A representative of Malta has been elected by the Parties of the Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats to chair and steer the work of the Convention's network of special focal points on the eradication of illegal killing, trapping and trade in wild birds.

At the meeting in Tirana on the 14th of April, the Parties of the Convention elected Sergei Golovkin, Head of Wild Birds Regulation Unit as Chairman of the network.

In a statement, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, said that, "his nomination for this role comes in the wake of Convention's recognition of the major legal, administrative, judicial and enforcement reforms implemented by Malta over the past three years, which resulted in the improvement of the protection for wild birds and major reduction in wildlife crime."

The Secretariat said that reforms implemented by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit included, among others:

Doubling of the penalties for all forms of bird-related crime and a ten-fold increase in the penalties against illegal targeting of birds

Introduction of administrative fines system for minor offences

Inclusion of several additional bird species on the list of species enjoying the highest legal protection

Affording full legal protection to birds not naturally occurring in Europe on par with the protection enjoyed by European territory birds

Strengthening the legal remit of the Ornis committee

Complete revamp and major strengthening of regulatory controls over hunting and taking activities

Modernisation of sustainable hunting governance systems, including introduction of technology-based licensing and game reporting systems

Establishment of Conservation of Wild Birds Fund

Doubling of enforcement strength deployed in the field during bird migration seasons

Six-fold increase in inspections and spot checks

Systematic compilation of scientific and enforcement data and statistics

Publication of detailed scientific and technical reports for public scrutiny

Reform of hunting examinations system

According to the Secretariat, "this achievement in just three years, and the success of Malta's reforms placed the country among the best performing countries in the implementation of Bern Convention's Tunis Action Plan on the Eradication of Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade in Wild Birds, is recognised by the Convention among best practice examples."

In the capacity of Chairman, Sergei Golovkin will also represent Convention's work on eradication of illegal killing of birds in other international fora, including in the meetings of Convention on Migratory Species Mediterranean Task Force on Illegal Killing of Birds.

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