Call for tougher stand on hunting and trapping

Nature Trust has welcomed the consistent tough stand on illegal hunting and trapping taken by the courts and the work carried out by the police administrative and law enforcement (ALE) unit.

But it is insisting on a definite stand on hunting and trapping issues.

The NGO said that failing to beef up the ALE was a sign of the government's reluctance to tackle the issue. ALE has been assigned a host of other duties including assisting the Criminal Investigations Department's mobile squad, it said. This has resulted in fewer hunters being brought to book last year for infringing hunting regulations when compared to 2004.

In addition, the government has not fully transposed the Birds' Directive into Maltese legislation, something which the country was obliged to do after EU accession.

The Birds' Directive lays down that spring hunting becomes illegal and that bird trapping comes to an end in 2008, Nature Trust said.