Edwin Lanfranco, Department of Biology, University of Malta.

I must respond to the contribution by Frans H. Said (October 3).

Garigue (or garrigue, both forms are valid) is not blat samm in Maltese. The closest approximation is xaghri, which includes both true garigue and rocky steppe.

Garigue is a typical Mediterranean vegetational community which is dominated by low shrubs accompanied by a variety of herbaceous plants.

In the Maltese islands garigue is typical of rocky coralline limestone outcrops and valley sides. Garigue formation depends on a variety of dynamic factors and it usually forms where the ground is exposed or where it is subjected to grazing, browsing and fires.

In exposed places where there is little soil, it forms the highest vegetational stage while, elsewhere, it may be one of the successional stages and may result from the destruction of woods or maquis or their inability to form as a result of various constraints.

While garigue occurs in many parts of the Mediterranean area, each garigue is unique in species composition. Of typical Mediterranean vegetational formations, garigue is the richest in number of species thus, in Libya, garigue occurs only in the Gebel Akhdar area where some 90 per cent of the Libyan flora exists.

In the Maltese islands close to 500 of our 900 or so indigenous species can be found in garigues. Even in Malta there are several types of garigue depending on the dominant species; for example we have garigues dominated by thyme (saghtar), others dominated by the endemic Maltese spurge (tenghud tax-xaghri) and high garigues dominated by the tree spurge (tenghud tas-sigra).

As stated above, apart from the shrubs, there are numerous herbaceous species such as orchids (some of which are endemic), irises, various types of garlic etc.

These are formations which have existed, in some cases, for many thousands of years, others formed more recently due to changes in land use. Thus when fields are abandoned, soil may erode away and if the rocks become exposed, garigue may develop on it, a process which can take several decades until it stabilises. In the Maltese islands we are fast losing our garigue communities and consequently we have been losing some indigenous species.

We should bear in mind that our biodiversity is an important aspect of our heritage and, due to our very restricted territory, development should only be permitted in places which have already become degraded.

This also applies to golf courses. I personally have nothing against golf but sites for this pastime should be chosen very carefully. The site being proposed at Ix-Xaghra l-Hamra includes some of our best remaining garigue and it would be foolish to waste our typical countryside to something which, after all, is banal.

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