Education and afforestation in Malta

Abstract

One of the salient geographical features of the Maltese Islands is the comparative lack of indigenous arboreal vegetation. Originally, as far as can be ascertained, the predominant vegetation appears to have been evergreen forest, but a complex of factors, both natural and artificial, have contributed to the present rocky terrain and poverty of flora. In many localities, both coastal and inland, the prevalent landscape is bare rock, variously pitted with small to medium soil-pockets, in which patches of herbaceous (and occasionally wordy) shrubs are evident. Over the remaining parts, the soil stratum is very thin, in many instances forming a shallow coat varying between 25 and 100 cm, beyond which the underlying rock is exposed. It is probable that the bulk of primitive trees were felled for their timber between 2000 B.C. and 1 A.D. and that a gradual process of erosion produced the present conditions. In fact, since the earliest records, it is evident that the history of Maltese Agriculture can be easily described as one long continuous effort at soil-conservation. This, however, is only one of the problems acting against the re-establishment of a thriving arboreal flora. Briefly, the main factors limiting the growth of trees in the Maltese Islands can be described as follows: soil scarcity, soil conditions, water, pests and diseases and wind conditions