Ian Lansley, expert arborist and international lecturer on forestry, arboriculture and ecology, acted as a consultant to the government on several projects but now says they have neglected to heed his advice and considers the situation an “absolute nightmare”.
Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Lansley said that while he has previously acted as a consultant to the Maltese government on a number of projects, he “will no longer act as a consultant for the government or councils or Environmental Landscapes Consortium (ELC) or anything else in Malta.”
This, he says, is because his advice is consistently ignored, except for one particular case. “They won’t take my advice and it’s becoming an absolute nightmare over there. With all due respect, it doesn’t matter what I say; the politicians are going to destroy your island and there is nothing I can do about it,” he said.
Lansley refused to specify which projects he had acted as a consultant on or which of his advice had been ignored. Asked to comment on the technical aspects of such projects, Lansley said: “I am not willing to discuss any projects I’ve worked on due to their mismanagement, which was not my fault.” He added that he would not take responsibility for their failure.
Lansley, who has served as tree care manager at Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Marlborough House, Hampton Court Palace and the Tower Of London, has delivered a series of talks on the important role of trees on the island, which were organised by Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar under the auspices of the Office of the President. In 2015, he was reportedly appointed by the government to make recommendations on the relocation of four fir trees outside the Auberge the Castille, Valletta.
In light of a number of projects involving the uprooting of trees, including the controversial Central Link project, many have expressed concern about the way Malta’s environment is being treated. Protests have also been organised in a bid to protect trees from being uprooted or chopped down. Meanwhile, the government insists that more trees will be planted to make up for those lost.
