An effort in restoration ecology and embellishment : providing an extension to Wied Għollieqa nature reserve

Abstract

Ecological restoration is an indispensable tool to mitigate biodiversity loss and safeguard the durability of ecosystem services that are central to human health and salubrity. Stressors such as developmental pressures, population growth, and over-exploitation have degraded the state of several ecosystems and in some cases, completely modified the natural landscape through land-use change. Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) such as Wied Għollieqa promote ecological coherence and resilience as they help to maintain and restore species and habitat types that are of community interest to a favourable conservation status (FCS). However, it must be noted that isolated patches of protected areas surrounded by a fragmented landscape are ineffectual in the long run. The aim of this study is to create an implementation plan for the extension of Wied Għollieqa Nature Reserve into Car Park One (CP1) at the University of Malta (UM). The extension will help to insulate the reserve from adverse external elements and ensure that its prime objective, biodiversity conservation, is achieved. In the wider context, the extended area is also to serve as a gene pool for local tree species that are relatively scarce in the Maltese Islands or otherwise threatened. Socioeconomic factors were also considered such that the implementation plan aims to provide rich experiential opportunities that encourage connectivity and stewardship with green spaces and protected areas. In effect, the work conducted under this project will be beneficial both to the UM community and the environmental Non-Governmental Organisation (eNGO) responsible for Wied Għollieqa, Nature Trust. The general public may also benefit by enjoying amenities such a newly recreated space would provide, as well as students undertaking studies in fields related to cultivation, horticulture and agriculture inter alia. The main elements constituting the restoration plan include a vegetation buffer comprised of the Pistacio lentisci-Rhamnetalia alaterni thermo-mesomediterranean habitat, a principal restoration area that extends the Wied Għollieqa Meso-Mediterranean Holm Oak Forest, an area for agriculture for crop wild relatives, a community garden and a bird hide. Such elements have been included in two designs, of which the most suitable can be utilised depending on feasibility and budgetary constraints at the time of implementation