Eco-Ducks for the Eco-island of Gozo
- More species of birds recorded breeding this year – Birdlife Malta
- Grey Wagtails first confirmed breeding pair in 100 years
- Birdlife confirm first breeding bird of prey in 15 years
- Unusual bird at the National Museum of Natural History
- Bird Flu – Wild Ducks Rounded Up
- A nightmare two weeks in ‘quiet and quaint’ Gozo
- A Tourist’s view of Gozo
- Mepa Replies to AD over Development in Gozo
- Little Egrets nest for the first time in Malta
- Courts hand out suspended jail sentences & fines of €108,314.74 for illegal developments in Gozo
- Ministry intervention saves Nature Reserve from flooding
- BirdLife Malta and Italy demand stronger enforcement
- Scepticism on the eco island of Gozo
- Egyptian Charged with Robbing Woman Later Found Dead in Well
- Over 20 Million Euros for Gozitan and Maltese Farmers
Having just returned from a two week holiday on Gozo I have found that the Eco-island concept is alive and well in at least one part of the island. Whilst visiting friends in Qala they told me about the major problem they had in their back garden with snails and slugs.
Now the people in question could have gone down the well trodden path of using pesticides or some such poison to bring the problem under control. However, being people after my own heart who care a lot for the environment they came up with an Eco-island solution. They hired a pair of ducks for a month.
Nothing gets rid of snails like a pair of ducks and the only by-product is fertiliser for the garden, although a certain amount of that fertiliser found it’s way onto the patio as the ducks tend to go where the snails go!
Can I therefore suggest that the Minister for Gozo, Giovanna Debono, takes the bull by the horns, or duck by the wings, with regard to this Eco-island initiative and immediately organises annual duck hiring fairs? I’ve even found the perfect location for the breeding of these ducks. We could cut down all that bamboo in the old quarry at Hondoq and revert it back to the way it was in 1951 and form a large duck pond.
So come on Minister let’s get this Eco-island thing off the ground and get those snails under control in an environmentally friendly way.
James A. Tyrrell,
5 Lower Cairncastle Road,
Larne,
County Antrim,
N. Ireland BT40 1PG
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HI Alex,
This is a very excellent idea and yes it works very well for the concept of ECO GOZO.
so that our beautiful island does not lose it’s charm and be turned into another “developed” city we need to go back to the ideas previous generations have used. (my grandparents used this idea of having ducks as well) They worked hand in hand with nature and the system they used worked well, that is why Gozo is still the gem in the Mediteranean.
In this current generation we are trying to be “modern” and we are trying to be like other “modern” places and we do not realise that we are destroying everything instead of improving. We are not just destroying the landscape of the island but also destroying our health.
In your article you mentioned Hondoq and yes I think Hondoq should be turned back into a beautiful reserve (park) for everyone to enjoy and not turn it into a white elephant like the other hotels that have closed down in Gozo. (just for a few greedy developers to get rich)
I looked up the soshondoq website and I think the photo you are referring to is on the front This is the link http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7899/3748/1600/scan0002.0.jpg
It would be the first one on these islands by just a little bit of work.
I should think that if the ducks take to the air then it’s likely they’ll be shot.I don’t know how many people will be having duck on the table at Christmas but it’s getting near that time of year. I think I’ll be having a nut roast (and very nice too!).
KH