The rubble wall decline : investigating the degradation of rubble walls at Ramla Valley

Abstract

Terraces are a distinctive landscape feature of the Maltese Islands. They allowed arable cultivation on most Maltese slopes for several hundred years. Unfortunately agricultural land has been decreasing rapidly during the past decade as a result of physical and socio-economic factors. Land abandonment and degradation mainly contribute to this decrease in agricultural land, with the result that rubble walls are being lost. This dissertation is aimed at investigating the degradation of rubble walls on agricultural land in relation to land use patterns. The study focuses on the agriculturally productive valley, Ramla Valley which is located in the north-eastem part of Gozo. The hypothesis states that the degradation of terraces is a result of an interplay of physical, human and socio-economic factors. Research methodology has been based on interviews with local farmers and hunters, on site observations, field mapping techniques and aerial photography. The spatial distribution of the state of rubble walls in the area has been investigated and related to the main land uses - agriculture and hunting. A number of indicators such as visible land abandonment, the distribution of hunting and trapping sites and most important of all the condition of rubble walls has identified the land degradation of the study area.