Birdlife Malta has said that The Environment Landscape Consortium, (ELC) last Friday, severely damaged the national Important Bird Area in front of the Law Courts, a roosting site for thousands of White Wagtails during winter, when the ficus trees for which the area was designated were pruned down to bare trunks despite the ELC being stopped from doing this earlier last week by the police and MEPA.They said that the ELC began extensively pruning the ficus trees on Tuesday 18th May 2010. However following a complaint by the law courts that the noise was disrupting sessions, workers questioned by the police and MEPA failed to produce any permits as required by law, and the work was stopped.

“The trees, which are over 50 years old, are protected by Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations (LN12 of 2001) which requires pruning to only take place under permit by MEPA or the Department of Agriculture.”

“In spite of the earlier warning, on Friday ELC workers returned to the site and resumed their work, leaving little more than the main trunk on all the trees.”

“The trees serve as important roost sites for White Wagtails during the winter months when these birds seek refuge from the cold European winter. 7,600 White Wagtails were recorded using these trees as a roost site in January 2010. This site, which is the most important roost site for White Wagtails in the Maltese Islands, was declared a National Important Bird Area by BirdLife Malta.”

“It is incredulous that in spite of being stopped by MEPA and the police, ELC irresponsibly persisted with their actions causing further damage to the site,.” said Joseph Mangion, BirdLife Malta President.

Through scientific ringing studies White Wagtails wintering in Malta are known to come from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Sweden and Denmark.

Birdlife concluded by saying that the parties responsible for the damage should be held accountable for their actions.

Top Photograph – Shows the old trees that were severely damaged by the Environment Landscape Consortium last Friday. Photo by BirdLife Malta.

Lower Photograph – 7,600 White Wagtails were confirmed roosting in the Valletta national Important Bird Area in January. Photo by Denis Cachia.

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