FKNK wants to extend trapping despite accession treaty agreement

by Gozo News · February 21, 2009

Following FKNK’s demands in January to the Maltese Ornis Committee to continue trapping in Malta, BirdLife Malta last Tuesday presented a briefing paper on trapping to the Committee, which outlines the negative impacts of trapping on Malta’s wild life and the legally binding agreements to phase out trapping signed by Malta and the European Commission before Malta joined the EU.

The BirdLife briefing document reminded the Ornis committee members that trapping is illegal in the EU under the Birds Directive and that the 5 year transition period for phasing out the trapping of seven species of finch (song birds) came to an end last December as agreed with the EU in the Accession Treaty Agreement (1).

In spite of this, in January the FKNK demanded from the Maltese Ornis Committee the continuation of trapping, with more species to be trapped, an increase in the number of trappers and a longer trapping season including spring.

“The European Commission gave Malta more than enough time to prepare for the full implementation of the Birds Directive by allowing trapping to be gradually phased out over a five year period and to disseminate this information to the trappers and Maltese people by the end of 2008. However the government has done almost nothing in this regard and this is causing a lot of confusion and false expectations from the trappers,” said Geoffrey Saliba, BirdLife Malta’s Campaigns Coordinator.

“This means that there is all the more need for this information to be communicated and it is for this reason that BirdLife Malta, with support from MEPA, applied to the Commission for an EU LIFE+ Information Project through the Government of Malta.” added Saliba.

The EU Life+ project on Bird Migration and Trapping is the only LIFE+ project Malta obtained to date and is aimed at raising awareness on bird migration, the impacts of trapping and the legal status of trapping in the EU. However following a statement issued by the FKNK criticising MEPA’s support for the LIFE+ project on 3rd February, the Authority issued a statement the same day denying that it went into any formal agreement. BirdLife Malta last week revealed the official documents signed by MEPA showing the Authority’s official commitment to the Project (2).

“The Accession Treaty makes it clear that trapping can not continue from 2009 onwards. It is important for people to understand the reasons behind the trapping ban in the EU and the conditions negotiated prior to joining the EU. It is therefore imperative that the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the protection of wild birds and MEPA, honours the agreement signed with the EU to stop trapping and ensures that this information is disseminated to the trappers and Maltese people.” concluded Saliba.

www.birdlifemalta.org

Notes: 1) The section regarding trapping as part of the Act of Accession for Malta under Nature Protection reads as follows:

By way of derogation from Articles 5(a), 5(e), 8(1) and Annex IV(a) of Directive 79/409/EEC, Carduelis cannabina, Carduelis serinus, Carduelis chloris, Carduelis carduelis, Carduelis spinus, Fringilla coelebs and Coccothraustes coccothraustes may be deliberately captured until 31 December 2008 by traditional nets known as clap-nets within the Maltese islands…

… The measures taken during the transitional measure shall be in full accordance with the principles governing the timing of hunting of migratory bird species as outlined in Directive 79/409/EEC. The number of captured birds is expected to be significantly reduced during the transitional measure. Malta will report annually to the Commission on the application of this transitional measure and on progress achieved.

The full Agreement can be reviewed on Page 12 of the document by clicking on the following link; http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:236:0859:0874:EN:PDF

2) On 10 February, BirdLife Malta revealed MEPA’s letter of support for the LIFE + information project which states that MEPA welcomes BirdLife’s commitment to support the Government in raising awareness on the conservation impacts of trapping practices. The letter was signed by the Director of Environment on 14 December 2007, and was included in the LIFE + Project application that was submitted to the Commission by the Government of Malta. In addition, BirdLife also revealed the LIFE + Project’s ‘Co-financier Commitment Form’ signed by MEPA on 7 July 2008 whereby the Authority pledged financial support to the project. Both documents are part of the original LIFE+ Project agreement entered into with the European Commission.