Several truckloads of debris were dumped in the idyllic Miżieb forest as part of a “tree planting project” carried out by hunters.

Two formerly green areas, roughly the size of a football field each, have been leveled with what appears to be demolition debris and quarry waste.

The dumping in Miżieb is being carried out as part of a project organized by the hunting fraternity FKNK and the national parks agency Ambjent Malta.

However, Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) sources have raised concerns that rules intended to protect natural habitats appear to have been breached.

“That’s not how you run a tree-planting project – by burying large areas of land with rubble,” a senior ERA source said.

FKNK declined to discuss the project and ignored questions sent to them about the debris.

The Malta Hunting Federation has been given management control of the forests of Miżieb and Aħrax for three years in 2020 against a token annual payment of €200 for each site.

The deal outraged environmentalists and civil society groups who said the public would be denied access to green spaces for more than five months of the year when hunting seasons are open.

The FKNK, on ​​the other hand, defended the deal saying it only formalized an earlier informal agreement that had already been in place for decades.

The deal is the subject of a legal battle between a coalition of environmental NGOs and the government.

The forest was devastated by a fire in 2019 with around 4,600 trees destroyed and over 180,000 square meters of land burned.

Ambjent Malta: we provide technical assistance

Responding to questions on Tuesday about the debris in Miżieb, parks agency Ambjent Malta said the tree-planting project was aimed at rehabilitating the area, nearly three years after the fire.

A spokesman for the agency said Ambjent Malta and officials from the Environment and Resources Authority had carried out an assessment of the area with the FKNK.

A plan was then drawn up to restore the damaged areas.

The spokesperson said the plan includes the removal of invasive and non-native species, soil placement, and the planting of native trees and shrubs.

“Ambjent Malta provides technical assistance to FKNK and also assists in the implementation of works,” the spokesperson said.

She added that “soil” had been hauled into the area for what was described as “habitat restoration through the planting of native trees and shrubs”.

The agency confirmed that an assessment had been carried out by Ambjent Malta and ERA before work began.

ERA: No license required

Meanwhile, an ERA spokesman said the site was not a Natura 2000 site and therefore did not need an ERA permit for the works involved.

The spokesman said the ERA was monitoring the work to ensure that any spillage onto green spaces is restored in an “environmentally friendly manner”.

He added that ERA officials will also check that “the low rubble walls are constructed in such a way as not to impair the integrity of the trees”.