A landscape architect from Holland has received a grant from the Dutch Creative Industries Fund to implement a project called ‘Fringefarm Malta & Gozo.’ Jos Willemsen developed the ‘fringefarm’ concept to give farmers and other rural entrepreneurs an economic incentive to work towards a greener environment.

The advisory commission of the Creative Industries Fund said that it sees Willemsen’s idea as a potentially important way to achieve more sustainable and more profitable land use.

A number of specialists from Malta have joined the project, including John Portelli of the Malta Organic Agriculture Movement, Censu Caruana – expert in sustainability education – and Christine X of Christine X Art Gallery.

Willemsen has visited the Maltese islands regularly over the last ten years and has become increasingly concerned by the inexorable loss of soil fertility here, as well as the dwindling water table and climate change. These issues have a number of negative effects on the archipelago, including making farming more difficult and less productive.

Part of the solution lies in the introduction of more trees to the islands, especially on farms. (Trees obviously use water, but they also help the land around them to retain water, and they attract rain because they cool the air).

“We almost forget that the whole of the Mediterranean zone was once a forest.” Willemsen points out. “It is hard to imagine how it once was. Over the generations, the trees were steadily cut down and now we are accustomed to a countryside with relatively few trees, but these islands used to be bursting with life.”

Crucially, he notes that the forests in Malta were “producing life in abundance.” He goes on to observe that, “all animal and plant life worked towards this abundance. And in fact it still does, but now we seem to stop life from doing its job.”

Inspired by global pioneers in food-forestry and permaculture, he worked out a way to create forest systems using edible species. Such forests not only provide food but also improve conditions for soil, water and air. The idea is that, if we cooperate with life rather than getting in its way, everyone wins. (Just one of the available tricks is to employ ‘swales’ – shallow canals that catch ‘run-off’ rainwater and allow it to soak into the land).

Forest systems automatically build up organic matter in the soil, making it more fertile. The beauty is that food-forests can be grown on hill-slopes and in other locations that are not considered of agricultural value.

The next question the team faced was how to provide a strong economic incentive to farmers to make use of fringe areas and generally implement the fringefarm approach – or to ‘”team with life,” as Willemsen likes to phrase it.

A solution became evident when the team realised that, when a fringefarm is up and running, it will be an interesting and enjoyable place to visit and that many tourists and agri-tourists, as well as locals, would like to have the opportunity to experience it. What’s more, such farms will act as a hub for other activities in the region.

Specifically, fringefarmers can collaborate with other rural entrepreneurs to supply visitors with all sorts of additional services, including cultural activities; training courses; wellness; guided hikes and climbs; meals; and indeed accommodation (small eco-lodges are a possibility for the more ecologically-minded tourists). This all results in what is being called a ‘climate for entrepreneurship.’

In this model, farmers have an economic incentive to invest in the landscape. These farmers become eco-effective, so the islands become greener and more fertile – not to mention more beautiful.

And when the local populace and potential tourists from overseas become aware of the purpose and many benefits of fringefarms, Willemsen has no doubt they will want to be part of this positive story.

The initial weeks of the project, which began in earnest in March, will be spent determining the opportunities and challenges. The next stage will be to set up pilot projects.

The team are eager to meet any interested landowners, prospective entrepreneurs, and anyone involved in organic agriculture, agro-tourism or nature trusts.

Contact can be made via fringefarmmaltagozo@gmail.com or on the Facebook page ‘Fringefarm Malta-Gozo.’

Permalink: Dutch landscape architect wins grant for new type of farm on Malta