One million trees will be planted around Malta over the next 10 years as part of a private afforestation project aimed at rehabilitating the island’s countryside.

The ambitious long-term project was announced on Tuesday as a collaboration between Act, an environmental research NGO, and QLZH Foundation, the social arm of the Quicklets and Zanzi Homes real estate businesses.

While details of the areas the tree-planting will focus on are scant, the project leads said they aimed to work with both public and private stakeholders to regenerate and sustainably manage abandoned or degraded land.

The project will seek create ecological nature reserves, which will also serve as natural seed banks, as well as open parks and green spaces for leisure activities.

All trees will be native to the Maltese islands to ensure long-term sustainability.

“The project will seek to be a catalyst for collaborations. We believe the regeneration of the Maltese countryside is possible through ecological research, conscious designs and social engagement,” Act spokesman Claude Ebejer told Times of Malta. “Now more than ever we have the tools we need - from science, knowledge and expertise - that will guide us to a sustainable future that will benefit all.”

Act spokesman Claude Ebejer (left) and QLZH group CEO Steve Mercieca. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

After a year of planning and preparation, the project will work in repeated three-year cycles: the first year dedicated to seed collection and propagation, the second consisting of maintaining the saplings while carrying out ecological studies and preparatory measures on site, and then the actual afforestation effort in the third year.

Mr Ebejer said the project would also create new opportunities for research, and a social strategy to bolster public engagement with the natural environment, including clean-ups and alien species removal campaigns to clean land.

“We believe that the communities that work, live and play on the Maltese islands have the most to gain. Our ambition is to target those interested to work together,” Mr Ebejer said.

Meanwhile, QLZH Group CEO Steve Mercieca said that, coming from the property industry, the company was always keen to give something back to the environment.

He said the company had already committed to planting a tree for every property sold - collaborating with local councils, schools and private landowners - as well as underwater clean-ups and other initiatives.