BirdLife Malta has said that it happy that the Ornis Committee has “realised the importance of protecting the Turtle Dove due to its vulnerable status, and voted down the call by the hunting lobby for the moratorium to be lifted.”

It added that, “we now call on the Government and Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat to be bold and take the right decision in regard to spring hunting, or if a Quail hunting season is still to be opened as recommended by Ornis last week, this should not extend further than mid-April to avoid the peak migration of Turtle Dove.”

In a vote taken earlier this afternoon during the scheduled committee meeting held today, BirdLife Malta said that Ornis turned down the call by the hunting lobby for the moratorium on spring hunting for Turtle Dove to be lifted.

The NGO stated that it “would have paved the way for a hunting season on this declining species to open in a few week’s time.”

BirdLife said that the proposal by the Federazzjoni Kaccaturi Nassaba Konservazzjonisti – FKNK was voted down in last week’s Ornis meeting, with BirdLife Malta and the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) representatives voting against, and the committee chairman together with the three other members abstaining. BirdLife said that the only vote in favour was FKNK’s.

Photograph by BirdLife Malta

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