Public Consultation: Intent and Objectives: General Guidelines for Landscaping in Rural Areas

 

CONSULTATION BRIEF

Start date: 19 August 2020

Closing date: 9 September 2020

Title of the public consultation: Intent and Objectives: General Guidelines for Landscaping in Rural Areas

Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning

Entity: Environment & Resources Authority

  1. Background

In terms of Article 51 of the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549), it is duly notified that the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is preparing ‘General Guidelines for Landscaping in Rural Areas’.

Landscaping in rural areas should be treated differently than that in urban areas due to the lesser degree of human manipulation on the land use.  Rural landscaping, therefore, should follow a closer approach towards the native and archaeophytic species of the area so that species are more environmentally sustainable and compatible in terms of their surroundings without compromising the local genetic pool of the naturally-occurring species.

In this regard, the intent of this document will be to act as guidance for appropriate landscaping in rural areas.

  1. Consultation

The main objectives of the proposed guidelines are to:

  1. provide general guidelines on what aspects should be taken into consideration for landscaping in rural areas from an environmental perspective;
  2. provide indicative lists of recommended tree and shrub species that can be planted in rural areas; and
  3. provide indicative lists of species which are not recommended for rural areas due to ecological reasons;

The follow questions are being asked as part of this consultation:

  1. Do you agree with the proposed intent and objectives of these guidelines?
  2. Can the objectives be further refined, keeping in mind the intent of these guidelines?
  3. Do you have any further feedback or comments on the intent or objectives of these guidelines?
  1. Submission of feedback
  1. Further notes:

Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.

All comments submitted shall be duly considered.

The draft General Guidelines for Landscaping in Rural Areas will be available for public consultation in due course at the following web link: https://era.org.mt/consultation-on-legislation-and-policy/