Agrarian and arboreal assessment
Date : 1997Client : Telemalta Corporation
In lieu of an environmental impact assessment, which had to be undertaken in conjunction with the Malta Millennium Project in St Julians, Telemalta requested an agrarian and arboreal assessment of two prime sites in Paceville. Their property, lying in the middle of a large open valley, can be divided into two major sites: Pender Place and Mercury House. The latter is largely characterised by small patches of soil planted with cultivated tree specimens. Pender Place, the larger of the two sites, is characterised by dryland farming. Both sites are characterised by cultivated vegetation. The highest concentration of trees/shrubs occurs in the landscaped areas at Pender Place.
Soils at Mercury House are not described since the site is characterised by soil pockets utilized as gardens. In general, soils at Pender place can be described as Terra Rossa sometimes mixed with Xerorendzinas. Both soils are usually highly fertile since they are generally clayey loam to loamy in texture.
The vegetation community at both sites consists of mixed foreign and native specimens, since the sites are largely cultivated gardens. The most frequent specie present at the two sites is Nerium oleander, which is a common shrub in Malta's urban landscape. This is followed by Prunus amygdalus and Cupressus sempervirens.
The development of Pender Place will alter the physical nature of the site; Pender Place is partly agricultural and partly landscaped. This option will represent negative externalities to the farmer/s since agricultural land will make way for development.
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