Hunters now granted a field day to hunt during 9 out of 12 months – BirdLife

by Gozo News · May 24, 2019

The Wild Rabbit hunting law amendments, which, BirdLife Malta said, “were announced out of the blue last Friday by the government, just a week before tomorrow’s elections, will practically mean that with immediate effect hunters are now being granted a field day to hunt during nine out of twelve months.”

In a statement BirdLife argues that, “the relaxing of the provisions will give rise to more wildlife crime and illegal hunting.”

BLM explained that the 2019 amendments to the Environment Protection Act’s Protection of Wild Rabbit Regulations were announced by the Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change together with the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights through Legal Notice 100 of 2019.

It said that the legal notice relaxes two crucial provisions: “Where previously rabbit hunting licence owners could only practice with permission of land owners, this has now been amended to allow rabbit hunting in all areas where bird hunting is allowed; and Where previously restriction to train dogs involved the use of leashes, this was also removed,”

The repercussions of these amendments are various, said NTM. “Most notably, hunters who use the disguise of such season to kill breeding birds and other migratory species which migrate over the summer months will now have a free roam.”

“Also the opening up of huntable areas and use of dogs in all areas during the breeding season of most birds, is a cause of disturbance,” it added.

BirdLife went on to point out that, “only last August, a flock of 18 White Storks were wiped out over a week, during the open season for rabbits.”

It also said that the provisions now also cover various Natura 2000 sites where hunting is permitted. “When previously rabbit hunting was only permissible on private land with the permission of the land owner, with the ultimate objective being pest control, this is now being expanded over a wider territory.”

“A vast expanse of Natura 2000 sites is government land which will now be open to rabbit hunting,” said BirdLife. Adding that it finds it “difficult to understand how the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA), who is the caretaker of Natura 2000 sites in the Maltese Islands, has consented to such disturbance – a decision which is deplorable.”

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana concluded by saying, “Parliamentary Secretary Clint Camilleri continues listening only to the hunting lobby’s request to relax laws, yet does not take heed of the Ornis Committee’s advice to set up a wildlife crime unit. Now more than ever, with such lax legislation, the need and onus of enforcement is crucial to ensure that Malta’s environmental laws are respected by one and all.”