Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512001
12 OPINION maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 NOVEMBER 2023 OK, OK: before you all wring your hands with anticipated boredom, at the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of opinion articles about the '12 Ficus trees of Mos- ta'… kindly note that the rest of this article will NOT be on that subject (or even its many 'ramifications') at all. The only connection is that it departs from a small observation, that arose dur- ing the aforementioned saga itself. At one point, the Environment and Resources Au- thority (ERA) tried to justify the removal of those trees, on the grounds that they were an 'alien species', whose roots could 'cause damage to building foundations, road sur- faces, pavements and underground servic- es.' It turns out, however, that – while the ERA was not necessarily incorrect, in ei- ther of those statements – this species, 'Ficus microcarpa', is not listed anywhere in the ERA's own annex of 'invasive, alien, or environmentally incompatible species' (i.e., the ones which can legally be re- moved, as 'pests'.) On the contrary, Maltese law clearly states that Ficus trees are to be 'protected in urban spaces, [provided that] they are not causing any damage or adverse effect to the environment, or to structures or fea- tures of natural or cultural heritage value.' Now: I won't bother going into question of whether those particular trees WERE, in fact, causing any damage to surrounding structures, or not… … except, perhaps, to add that: a) The law talks about protecting 'structures or features of NATURAL or CULTURAL HERITAGE' (and no, that doesn't include 'road surfaces, pavements, and underground services'); b) Whatever 'damage' those trees may have caused, simply pales into insig- nificance compared to all the damage (both environmental and psychological) inflicted on the rest of us by their attempted remov- al (and everything else it has since come to represent: 'greed'; 'short-sightedness'; 'lack of urban planning'; 'the collapse of Malta's political system'; you name it…) But enough with the trees, for now. What I found more interesting about ERA's line of defence, is that it was very quickly adopt- ed by both Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, and Prime Minister Robert Abela, in their own subsequent Parliamentary speeches on the subject…. with Abela even embel- lishing it further, by describing those Ficus trees as 'invasive' (as distinct from just 'al- ien': which is what the ERA actually said). And this struck me as odd, because… as someone who has always been keenly interested in the preservation of Maltese wildlife (both flora, and fauna); and who has therefore been trying to highlight the threat of 'alien, invasive species' to Malta's fragile ecosystem, for literally YEARS… … this is arguably the first time in my life, that I've ever heard a Maltese Prime Minis- ter echoing EXACTLY the same concern, as if it were his own! (And in Parliament, no less! You know: the place where Mal- tese Prime Ministers can actually address issues such this these, through this new in- vention called 'LEGISLATION'…) OK, I suppose you all know me well enough by now, to see precisely where all this is heading. Sorry, Mr Prime Minister, but… if you are indeed so very alarmed, by Malta's 'invasive species' problem – a term which, by the way, actually refers to: 'non-native species that threaten local [Maltese, in this case] wildlife, with EX- TINCTION' – then why is your govern- ment doing nothing at all, to combat all the issues which really DO pose an existential threat, to Malta's already-threatened bio- diversity? Such as, for instance, the recent prolifera- tion of all sort of imported 'wildlife' (most- ly in the form of 'pets'), that have now in- fested virtually every nook and cranny, of Malta's entire ecosystem? But no matter. Seeing how our Prime Minister has suddenly taken a belated in- terest, in a serious environmental problem that all Maltese conservationists have been warning about, for decades… … I may as well take the opportunity to list out a few other local (in some cases, endemic) species of Maltes wildlife, that really DO face the threat of being wiped out of existence, altogether (simply be- cause someone, somewhere, once thought it would be a good idea to dump a whole truckload of unwanted 'pets', out in the countryside...) Starting with the Painted Frog (Dis- coglossus pictus pictus): which is both the only amphibian native to the Maltese is- lands; as well as the unique subspecies of a more widespread frog genus – common to Sicily and other Mediterranean islands – that only exists right HERE: in this our tiny country of ours. Even then: this frog only exists in a hand- ful of (mostly unconnected) natural water- ways, scattered across Malta and Gozo… with the largest populations concentrated in places like Chadwick Lakes, Buskett and Fiddien. And from a conservationist point of view: that's already enough to make Mal- ta's Painted Frog a potentially 'vulnerable' species, even at the best of times (due to the small size of its gene-pool; and because isolated populations cannot even inter- breed...) But that view overlooks that this frog's natural habitat is also under threat, from a whole variety of other dangers. Not to be alarmist, or anything; but it would take very little, in practice, for Malta to lose ALL its natural waterways… either through pollu- tion; or over-development; or even just be- cause the interminable drought that Malta is currently going through (and which will hopefully have ended, by the time you read this). And yet, the single most urgent threat to With so many 'invasive species' running around… why are 'trees' the only ones we ever complain about? Raphael Vassallo Malta's Painted Frog is a potentially 'vulnerable' species