Reforestation of L-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa Woodland

Country: Malta

City: Il-Mellieha

City size: 2275 ha

Population: 10868

start: 2014 and 2018

Timeframe: 3 months

Phase: Complete

Nature-based solutions (NBS) : No

Initiator: FKNK

Latitude: 35.9563

Longitude: 14.3622

Co-benefits

Improved air quality

Yes, tree and woodland cover was associated with air quality improvement ecosystem services (Balzan et al., 2018).

Reduced drought risk, cooling effect, urban heat island mitigation

Yes, trees and plants provide shade and reduce the urban heat island effect.

Biodiversity conservation or increased biodiversity

Yes, reforestration improves biodiversity and natural ecological processes..

Increased quality and quantity of green and blue infrastructures

Yes, by increasing tree cover which would be expected to contribute to an improved ecosystem services capacity (Balzan et al., 2018).

Original problems

Drought and heat risk

The Mediterranean Region is considered as a "hot-spot" of climate change, having been identified in global climate scenarios as one of the most responsive regions to climate change (Lionello and Scarascia, 2018). There is a consensus in scientific literature that average temperatures will rise across most of the Mediterranean Region, and that precipitation will decrease (Ulbrich et al. 2013; Lionello and Scarascia, 2018). Observed annual mean temperatures in the Mediterranean Region are now 1.4 °C higher than the average late-nineteenth-century levels particularly during the summer months (Cramer et al., 2018).

Loss of biodiversity

Yes, whilst improvements have been recorded for several species and habitats, Malta’s biodiversity continues to experience various pressures and threats (ERA, 2018d), including land development, invasive species, over-exploitation of species and climate change. (Malta Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, 2018).

SDGs

Terrestrial biodiversity (SDG15)

Yes, this action increased tree cover at L-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa. Only around 0.7% of Malta's land area is covered by forests (ERA, 2018a).

Reference: Balzan, M. V., Caruana, J., Zammit, A. 2018. Assessing the capacity and flow of ecosystem services in multifunctional landscapes : Evidence of a rural-urban gradient in a Mediterranean small island state. Land Use Policy, 75, 711–725. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.08.025.

Cramer, W., Guiot, J., Fader, M., Garrabou, J., Gattuso, J.-P., Iglesias, A., Lange, M.A., Lionello , P., Llasat , M.C., Paz, S., Peñuelas, J., Snoussi, M., Toreti , A., Tsimplis, M.N., Xoplaki, E. 2018. Climate change and interconnected risks to sustainable development in the Mediterranean. Nature Climate Change. doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0299-2.

ERA. 2018a. State of the Environment Report 2018: Chapter 4: Land and Coast. Reporting status from 2009 to 2015. Information obtained: 2019-10-23. Available at: https://era.org.mt/en/Documents/Chapter4_LandCoast_26Nov2018.pdf.

ERA. 2018d. State of the Environment Report 2018: Chapter 8: Biodiversity. Reporting status from 2009 to 2015. Information obtained: 2019-11-08. Available at: https://era.org.mt/en/Documents/Chapter8_Biodiversity_04Dec18.pdf.

Lionello, P., Scarascia, L. 2018. The relation between climate change in the Mediterranean region and global warming. In Regional Environmental Change, 2018, Volume 18, Issue 5, pp 1481–1493. Malta Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 2018. Information obtained: 2019-11-01. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/20203Malta_VNR_Final.pd.

Ulbrich U, Xoplaki E, Dobricic S, García-Herrera R, Lionello P, Adani M, Baldi M, Barriopedro D, Coccimiglio P, Dalu G, Efthymiadis D, Gaetani M, Galati MB, Gimeno L, Goodess CM, Jones PD, Kuglitsch FG, Leckebusch GC, Luterbacher J, Marcos-Moreno M, Mariotti A, Nieto R, Nissen KM, Pettenuzzo D, Pinardi N, Pino C, Shaw AGP, Sousa P, Toreti A, Trigo RM, Tsimplis M. 2013. Past and current climate changes in the Mediterranean region. In: Navarra A, Tubiana L (eds) Regional Assessment of Climate Change in the Mediterranean. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 9–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5781-3_2.