Environment Minister Jose Herrera this morning called for better enforcement of laws in valleys and other green spaces, insisting that efforts to protect these areas needed to be stepped up.

Addressing journalists at Wied Blandun in Paola, Dr Herrera described Malta's valleys as "the country's lungs" and insisted it was high time that enforcement is stepped up to curb waste dumping and other illegal practices.

A specific department within the Environment Resources Authority, the minister iterated, should be set up in order to better handle monitoring of such areas.

Dr Herrera also announced that by the end of this year, more than 8,000 indigenous trees would be planted all over the island, as part of efforts to make Malta greener. This was three times the number planted in the past 20 years, he said.

He also explained that the process of afforestation on Comino would also kick off soon.

"There's a substantial portion of Comino that is made up of soil and which over the years has been abandoned and so there is great potential for forestation there," Dr Herrera said.