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Friday, 28th March 2008
Plant website grows into largest picture resource
![3D""=20](3D"http://static.timesofmalta.com/media/serve/20080328---loc_16.jpg")
Photo: Stephen Mifsud
The website maltawildplants.com has recently received a major update = and now=20 lists more than 1,000 plants of which nearly 700 species are illustrated = by=20 three to 12 high quality photos each.
This makes the free website the largest ever illustrated publication = of flora=20 on the Maltese islands, with some 6,000 photos online so far.
Author Stephen Mifsud, a graduate in agriculture and digital = technology,=20 designed the website in 2002. He had focused on ensuring it would be = easy for=20 the public to search for a particular plant, increasing awareness and = education=20 on the importance and beauty of the local flowering "wild" plants in = Malta's=20 fragile countryside.
Mr Mifsud said yesterday that over the last century dozens of native = plants=20 have become extinct or very rare due to human interference, mainly = because of=20 ignorance. Numerous plants are listed as endangered for several reasons = but=20 mostly through human influence such as loss of habitat, pollution of = natural=20 water or over-picking of certain delicate plants, such as orchids.
The website, which is visited by 30,000 visitors each month and = enjoys a=20 Google page ranking score of 5/10, lists each plant under six indexes -=20 botanical name, English name, Maltese name, botanical index, plant = family index=20 and flower colour.
The flower colour index is the easiest way to search for a plant when = one=20 does not have much information about it.
Fauna lovers also have their small but steadily growing section with = a page=20 containing images and information of mammals, reptiles, insects and = marine=20 creatures found in Malta. More than 120 species are illustrated, and = more should=20 be inputted by autumn.
Popular pages on this award-winning website include a forum, an = interactive=20 tool where one can ask questions, discuss and share information about = flora and=20 fauna, a promotion page, a listing of the website's achievements and=20 recommendations, a news page, containing a description of every new = update in=20 chronological order and a guestbook, featuring comments left by visitors = of the=20 site.
Mr Mifsud said that more work was being carried out to increase the = number of=20 illustrated plant species to 800, and the photo archive to 7,000 = images.
The public is being given the opportunity to participate by = submitting their=20 own photos of plants currently lacking images. Each photo will be = credited.
The page is partly sponsored by The Strickland Foundation, Middlesea=20 Insurance plc and the HSBC Cares for the Environment fund. Other = sponsors are=20 being sought.
Mr Mifsud said the sponsors, as well as people such as Edwin = Lanfranco, Hans=20 Chris Weber, Owen Mifsud, Daniel Farrugia and others who con-tributed = with=20 voluntary help and support, kept the page going and improving.
He said he would like to see more government support for this and = other=20 environmental projects carried out by private individuals or NGOs.
Future website projects include information on medicinally im-portant = wild=20 plants, school educational field trips, illustrative identification = keys, and=20 more images of plant species.
All this depends on a number of factors including funding and time, = Mr Mifsud=20 said.
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Article =C2=A9 Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Monday, September 13, = 2010. This=20 article is for personal use only, and should not be = distributed.
=
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Andrew Borg Cardona
Sun, 12th =
September
Fr Joe Borg
Sat, 11th =
September
Tanja Cilia
Fri, 10th=20
September
Alison Bezzina
Thu, 9th =
September
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