Wied Għollieqa - A Nature Reserve on Campus!

This is a guest article by Zach Engerer, Nature Trust Malta's Youths and Scientific Officer which has previously been published on the @KSU magazine.

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With an area of about 0.02km², Wied Għollieqa is a small nature reserve located within the boundaries of the University of Malta, between the University and Kappara. Although not very large, this valley has quite a lot to offer to the visitor, from the myriad of trees, shrubs and flowers growing in the area to the temporary pond that fills with water after rainfall that helps in attracting many birds and insects to the area.

Since the 1990s, Nature Trust (Malta) has been managing the site by restoring rubble walls and paths, planting local trees and cleaning up the area, making Wied Għollieqa as we know it today – a great place to unwind and relax after a stressful time at the University.

Three entrances to the nature reserve exist with the main one being in Car Park 1 opposite the Wied Għollieqa Environment Centre, which also acts as NTM’s headquarters. From there one finds himself in a narrow passageway passing under a carob tree that eventually leads to an opening in the valley and later on to the temporary pond. Crossing the dam, the path gets narrow once again and passes next to a vast patch of bramble, which gives the valley its name (għollieq is the Maltese name for bramble). Turning right close to a cultivated field one may then pass through a number of terraced fields, all of which are dominated by pine trees, giving visitors an idea of a small woodland. This continues up to a small room (the għorfa), and in this area one may also encounter one of about 300 individuals of the sandarac gum tree, the Maltese national tree.

Managing the site is however not always an easy task and for this reason volunteers and members are fundamental in the upkeep and maintenance of such sites and are often the lifeline of numerous campaigns, promotions and events that NTM carry out.

Besides Wied Għollieqa, NTM also manages another site in the south of the island, at Xrobb l-Ghagin where any visitor can admire the biodiversity of three local habitats: woodland, steppe and garigue. The area also has a visitors’ centre that is a prime example of sustainable development with the presence of sun pipes, three types of photovoltaic panels, vertical and horizontal wind turbines and a biological drainage treatment system.

Anyone interested in joining the Nature Trust (Malta) team, or just for more information regarding what we do, please do not hesitate to contact us by email on info@naturetrustmalta.org or visit us at the Wied Għollieqa Environment Centre in Car Park 1.

European Waste Reduction Week: Malta's Best NGO based project!

Good news! Our event for European Waste Reduction Week 2010 was selected as the best project in the NGO category from Malta :)

Next Monday the EU level results will be out and we'll know which NGO in Europe carried out the best event to promote Waste Reduction.

Visit the Wasteserv website to learn more about the various projects which were chosen as the best in their category.

Here's a summary of the Greenhouse event held on Campus for EWWR:

Association/ NGO- Greenhouse Organization

The project presented was spread over 4 days during the EWWR week, with each day focusing on a particular issue. These issues, although they might not be in the limelight, when it comes to waste-related issues, they are a major problem. The aim of the action was to make students and staff aware that a big part of the waste produced on a daily basis can be easily avoided by adopting simple actions which would make a big difference to our environment. Monday was dedicated to the distribution of rough paper stands across university facilities such as Student House, Library and computer labs where students could deposit or take rough paper to be used. This was done to promote the reuse of one-sided waste paper as rough paper.

Tuesday was about creating awareness about the large amounts of waste produced due to excessive packaging and to the promotion of fresh local produce and the selection of less packaged items in the marketplace. This was done jointly with a local supermarket where a stand was set up to display the different options there are to reduce this waste stream.

On Thursday a collection of goods which are not needed any longer was organized. The aim was to give these goods to an animal charity shop for reselling and thus reuse. This day served also for the promotion of the free cycling concept via websites. This also reduces the waste going to the landfill and saves the world's resources.

Friday was dedicated to the promotion of effective composting. A stand, which provided ample information about the requirements to make good compost, was set up while an example of the final product was also set on display.

Each concept mentioned above was further promoted by the distribution of bookmarks to the students to serve as a continuous reminder of the benefits of waste reduction.