BirdLife Malta in a statement today has said that “unbelievable as it might seem, it looks like the spring hunting season 2020 will be opened.”
It argued that “the opening of a hunting season now would be the most irresponsible act by Prime Minister Robert Abela.”
“Whilst the general public is being asked to stay at home in view of the global threat posed by the Covid-19 virus – Cabinet has requested an urgent meeting of the ORNIS Committee to rubber stamp a spring hunting season,” it said.
BirdLife stated that “apart from being highly irresponsible in the present delicate situation, the opening of such a season will be an open cheque for hunters and trappers to continue flouting the law at a moment when police and security forces are already overstretched with other much more important duties.”
BLM pointed that “this is already happening, with rampant illegal hunting and trapping taking place in the countryside.”
“The opening of such a season would also be highly irresponsible in view of the fact that the conditions to derogate from the EU Birds Directive – that Malta is expected to adhere to and respect – require that for every 1,000 hunters there should be seven police officers or persons to see that the law is enforced,” the NGO said.
Just this weekend BirdLife Malta said that it “received another seven illegally shot protected birds, as evidenced by this video we are releasing today.”
“All these were shot down between Friday and yesterday, and were confirmed as illegal hunting casualties by the government veterinarian,” the NGO said.
BirdLife Malta said it would like to remind the Prime Minister “that in the present situation hunters and trappers are openly flouting the law, going out hunting when this is prohibited at this time of the year, and many active trapping sites are illegally trapping many songbirds, when trapping in spring has been illegal for the last decade or so.”
BirdLife Malta called on the Prime Minister to “show moral courage and take decisions in the general interest of the country. At this juncture, BirdLife Malta understands that the health of the country is a priority, but it cannot accept that the protection of nature takes the back burner.”
“The hunting and trapping lobby cannot continue to hold politicians at ransom,” stated BirdLife, adding that it calls on the Prime Minister to take a “clear and unequivocal stand in favour of all communities and nature in general.”
BirdLife Malta also said that “the illegal decision to place the ORNIS Committee, the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) and the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations under Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri, continues to undermine the promise that this Government will be committed to environment protection.”
BirdLife reiterated that “according to Malta’s environmental laws, Minister Camilleri does not have the legal remit to take decisions on hunting and trapping.”
“We need to take action. The decision or consideration of opening the spring hunting season will take us back to the middle ages.
“BirdLife Malta is calling on the Prime Minister to openly state that the spring hunting season in 2020 will not be opened because the delicate situation we’re in today calls for restraint and responsibility.
Photo by BLM: One of the shot Marsh Harriers received by BirdLife Malta over the weekend. Video footage by BirdLife Malta, editing by Nathaniel Attard