Dear Editor,

I am a foreign visitor working here in Tripoli for a few weeks off and on. I have recently had the daily pleasure of jogging around the newly opened park near to the Zoo in the centre of the city.

It's about 5km around the outside track. It's a real jewel and gives me and other foreign and Libyan friends and hundreds of other Libyan men, women and children great pleasure each evening. Many go there jogging or walking or to practice 5 a side football in some areas.

The large eucalyptus trees give off the greatest scent whilst walking or running around the woods and make it feel fresh. It gives you a real chance to switch off and get away from the noises of the city.
There are 2 concerns though:

First: The weekend picnickers are now beginning to leave their rubbish behind and is becoming a real eyesore and spoiling this beautiful haven. As soon as the fences are built to prevent vehicular access, they are being torn down by people determined to picnic.

They should ensure there are signs up encouraging people to take their mess with them or indeed make it an offence but then you need to Police and enforce this. Second: There are large mechanical diggers clearing some of the ground in some areas and when we stopped to ask them what they were doing they said they were putting grass up to 100m inside the tree line to make it look nice from the road. Grass generally does not grow inside wooded areas because of the shade.

It needs continuous light and watering. They seem to be destroying existing tracks too and spoiling it for the runners.

I hope they know what they are doing because this place has so much potential for Libyan families and people visiting Tripoli. Large open public spaces have so much to offer big cities but need to be well thought through and protected.
Allen Moorcroft.

Visiting from the UK.