BirdLife Malta, in a statement has said, that the latest Infringement Proceedings [1] initiated by the European Commission against the Government on spring hunting and trapping “are the result of Prime Minister Robert Abela being given erroneous advice from Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri.”
With the EC “finally holding the Government accountable for the wrong decisions taken in opening hunting and trapping derogations based on the wrong advice of Clint Camilleri, Malta’s reputation has been put in bad light because of decisions that took us back in time.”
BirdLife Malta stated that “Malta in 2020 should be aligning itself to the European Green Deal and not taking measures to destroy more biodiversity.”
“Malta should be aware that it cannot be a European Union Member State à la carte and that the spirit of the EU Accession Treaty must be respected,” it said.
More so, BirdLife Malta called on Minister Miriam Dalli to “live up to the European Green Deal.”
Accusations that Birdlife Malta is “harming Malta are laughable and ludicrous,” it said. “BirdLife Malta has over its 58 years of existence raised millions of Maltese liri and euro into the Maltese economy in education, nature reserves and research.”
It pointed out that in “the last 16 years of European Union membership, we have successfully won millions of euro in funds for employing people in the environment sector and scientific research.”
BLM argued that, “the hunting lobby, on the other hand, has worked hard to preserve outdated habits, blackmail politicians with their vote, kill protected species and block conservation measures that will serve future generations taking their privies for granted and that their abusive actions – in particular with illegal hunting and trapping – have harmed Malta for decades, earning us the reputation as a country where what flies, dies.”
Birdlife Malta concluded by calling on Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech “to realise that the vast majority of Maltese and Gozitans are not hunters or trappers and want to live in a modern country which embraces the European Green Deal and not renege on it.”
File photo: BLM