BirdLife Malta said today that the “FKNK need to prove their commitment to eradicating illegal hunting before any official agreement between them and BirdLife Malta could be any more than a meaningless piece of paper.”

BLM said that the “FKNK criticised BirdLife Malta for choosing not to sign a Memorandum of Understanding drafted by the new Wild Birds Regulations Unit in the aftermath of last month’s shocking eagle massacre.,” BLM added,”at the time, FKNK and the Government described the killing of more than 14 of these rare and highly protected birds of prey as “isolated incidents” in their efforts to downplay the scale and seriousness of the illegal hunting which is still a huge problem in Malta. “

“The protection of wild birds is already enshrined in Maltese and European law. What we need is real action to enforce the laws we already have and actually prevent illegal hunters from killing protected birds that come to our islands,” said BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager, Nicolas Barbara.

“While the FKNK claims to have a zero tolerance approach to illegal hunting, they have been very reluctant to expel convicted illegal hunters from their membership.” Steve Micklewright, Executive Director of BirdLife Malta said, “We would indeed sign a Memorandum of understanding with a hunting organisation that has a real zero tolerance approach to illegal hunting. We look forward to the day when the FKNK becomes such an organisation.”

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