‘Intrinsic link between green spaces and wellbeing’ - President’s Foundation

An “intrinsic link” exists between access to green spaces and well-being, the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society said.

“A balance must be found between development and the protection of natural resources,” the Foundation said in a statement. “It is vital that citizens be actively engaged and encouraged in the continuation of open space protection and preservation.

“We encourage further work in fostering creative foresight, sustained will, and collaboration between civil society and other sectors, in order to ensure that open spaces will continue to play their essential role in the wellbeing of people in Malta and Gozo.”

The Foundation was set up last year by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca to advise the President on initiatives to improve social includion and standards of living.

Its statement comes a week ahead of a planned national protest against the development of a private university in land outside development zones at Zonqor Point, Marsaskala. If the proposal goes through, the university will take up over 90,000 square metres of pristine land.

Front Harsien ODZ, a civil society movement set up in opposition to the Zonqor development, will call on the government to abide by the 2006 local plan for the south of Malta, where the entire Zonqor area was designated as a natural park.

The protest has already garnered support from Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, green party Alternattiva Demokratika, several environmental NGOs and Moviment Graffiti.

“We acknowledge that the impact of environment on individual and social wellbeing must be considered as a multifaceted and holistic phenomenon,” the Foundation said. “Growing contemporary evidence supports the view that exposure and access to green spaces can have a wide range of social, economic, environmental and health benefits.”