Birdlife Malta and CABS has said that evidence of illegalities witnessed by BirdLife Malta and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) during the open season and beyond prove the government’s spring hunting derogation failed to meet even the ‘strict supervision’ test, besides other conditions under the Birds Directive.

“Over 1300 illegalities were recorded during BirdLife Malta’s three-week Spring Watch camp, from 11th April until yesterday. Around 260 illegal hunting and trapping incidents were recorded by BirdLife Malta and CABS teams alone outside the permitted times during the spring hunting derogation period between 24 and 30 April.”

They said that in addition to these figures, while the police said that only 16 licenses were issued in Malta (7 for Gozo), there were over 640 observed cases of hunting with 1305 shots heard only in Malta during the mornings of the derogation period. This led to the conclusion that many hunters without the necessary licenses under the derogation were actively targeting migratory birds.

“The illegalities recorded include hunting from roof tops, the use of illegally modified shotguns in over 100 cases, targeting of protected species as well as active trapping. Poachers were also observed using watch out points and radio communication to alert each other and avoid detection.”

Both organisations went on to stress that these figures were only an indication of the presence of illegal hunting and not representative of the actual scale of illegalities. The data presented was limited to what was witnessed by teams in Malta as there was no presence in Gozo. Moreover, during the three week period, BirdLife Malta had only two to six teams covering a limited area on any given day, while CABS had only two teams in Malta for 10 days.

“Reports of illegalities from other sources, including birdwatchers who were not part of the camp, were not yet included in the figures presented. A detailed report following the analysis of all illegal hunting reports will be sent to the European Commission in the coming days.”

“Despite all their good intentions, the police could only deal with a fraction of the illegal hunting incidents. Some of the poachers might have been encouraged by the low penalties that have been given to illegal hunters and trappers in the past years. Apprehending the culprits is only the first step,” said CABS spokesman Axel Hirschfeld.

BirdLife Malta and CABS said that they drew attention to the fact that illegalities were regularly witnessed at almost every observation post, despite the presence of birdwatchers and, in some cases, even the police. A selection of the illegalities caught on camera was presented as evidence at a joint press conference held in Valletta today.

“Only one hunter we came across during the open season had a license – the rest were hunting illegally. While the government did everything it could to open a spring hunting season, many hunters did things their own way showing no respect for the law. They have provided additional ammunition to the Commission to take Malta back to the European Court and face fines,” BirdLife Malta President Joseph Mangion said.

“Hunting between 24th and 30th April was allowed only till noon, making any hunting in the afternoon illegal. Hunting was also not permitted on Sunday 25th April. The evidence presented by BirdLife and CABS showed these conditions were regularly flouted.”

“Without widespread and effective monitoring and supervision by the authorities it is impossible to know the real picture, which is perhaps convenient when trying to convince the European Commission that everything is under control,” Mr Mangion continued.

BirdLife Malta added that the strict supervision was only one of the conditions that needed to be met for this year’s derogation. Analysis by BirdLife’s international legal experts of the government’s legal notices permitting spring hunting showed that Malta’s derogation failed to meet several other conditions of the Birds Directive.

The organisations concluded by saying that they were both harshly critical of the authorities’ failure to apprehend any of the perpetrators of the vandalism and violent attacks against birdwatchers that occurred regularly during the last three weeks. Only this morning, people wearing balaclavas ambushed CABS volunteers driving their car on the road in Dingli and threw large stones at it. Fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Video: www.birdlifemalta.org

Photo shows a Decoy Turtle Dove confiscated by the ALE from an illegal trapper on the 27th April. Photo: BirdLife Malta.

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