On Saturday morning, a group of 12 young people got the opportunity to get their hands muddy for nature conservation, experiencing life as a Warden at BirdLife Malta’s Ghadira Nature Reserve.

Working alongside expert wardens, the group looked after new life by planting seedlings, acted as researchers taking note of the various species on site, and had the experience to see some birds close up during a scientific bird ringing demonstration.BLM said that education has always been a major priority for them, adding that it understands that learning does not only take place in schools. Education Manager, Hannah Chisholm said “Hands-on experience is the best way to learn. By getting out in nature and doing something practical to look after it, these young people will make a direct link between their actions and what affect it has on their countryside.”

When asked what they enjoyed most about the day the participants were all keen to share their experiences. Andrew Desira, aged 9 said “seeing a Kingfisher really close was great, it was very colourful and I enjoyed watching it fly after it had been ringed”, while Guiseppe Aloisio, aged 9 said his favourite activity was “walking along the nature trail, spotting all the different animals and counting loads of beetles.”

As the Education Partner for the Dinja Wahda Programme, Bank of Valletta’s Sports and Social Club supported the activity, and a group of BOV employees’ children were among the Wardens for the day.

At the end of the event the participating children were presented with a certificate to thank them for their efforts along with a BirdLife Malta badge.

Declared a bird sanctuary in 1978, Ghadira Nature Reserve is only a few hundred metres from Mellieha beach but it feels a world away. This reserve is a refugee for migrating birds, which allowed the children an opportunity to see two Flamingos and many other small wading birds during their visit.

The youngsters’ keen eyes also spotted a couple of shy Chameleon as they blended subtly with their surroundings. With so few protected areas in Malta, the importance of this site was explained to the group. Assistant Reserves Warden Tom Hendry said, “I hope that through more days like this we’ll inspire these young people to grow up wanting to protect nature in Malta”.

Ghadira Nature Reserve and Is-Simar Nature Reserve will be open to the public at the weekends from 1st November

A special re-opening event including book readings from Trevor Zahra, activity stalls, and nature trail exploration will be organised for Sunday 26th October at Is-Simar Reserve, Xemxija.

To find out further details or to make a booking for this event, please contact events@birdlifemalta.org or phone the BirdLife office on 21347646.

Photos: Bird ringing demo, photo by Hannah Chisholm (Bird is a Garden Warbler, children are Daniel Tully on left & Nikolai Mifsud on right): Kingfisher release, photo by Hannah Chisholm and Potting seeds, photo by Hannah Chisholm (L-R Nikolai Mifsud, Kathryna Aloisio, Guiseppe Aloisio & Andrew Desira)

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