Get serious about conservation
People thinking that Government is serious about conservation or trying to do anything to preserve Europe's and the world's natural heritage are wrong. Instead we have MEPs and ministers telling us that this is a minor problem, that only a few hunters...
People thinking that Government is serious about conservation or trying to do anything to preserve Europe's and the world's natural heritage are wrong. Instead we have MEPs and ministers telling us that this is a minor problem, that only a few hunters break the law, that this is minor compared to other countries.
No, this not a minor problem! We have probably seen the entire population of short-toed eagles of an entire European country wiped out in one single miserable afternoon by Maltese hunters.
Instead of letting the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) focus its resources on one problem, the government has them doing other things like beach patrols in September, when illegal shooting at birds of prey was rampant.
One honey buzzard, if viewed in the UK, would bring out hundreds of bird watchers. Here the local Neanderthals shoot them out of the sky with little thought. When one is unfortunate and is caught, one is issued with a small fine. The hunter who shot a Short-Toed Eagle tried to bribe the army patrol who found it under his seat. He had three previous charges. He was fined Lm250!
Another hunter was caught in Buskett (a bird sanctuary) trapping birds. Protected birds of prey were found at his house, he resisted arrest and assaulted two police officers. He was fined Lm300!
No wonder there is no deterrent. Anyone thinking the problem will go away should look no further than the Hunting Federation's continuous denial of illegalities. Instead of acknowledging the seriousness of what is happening, it ignores the issue and pretends it never happens here. No wonder that there is a real concern from the EU about the situation in Malta.
Although enforcement is a local issue, and not the EU's, Malta's reputation over hunting and conservation is seen as a major problem in the EU. As long as the hunters keep shooting at anything that flies, Malta will never recover from its image of carnage. Sicily, which up to 10 years ago had a serious problem with raptor killing, is now at the forefront of eco tourism - birds of prey attract many bird watchers from around Europe.
Today even Griffon vultures are now flying freely over the pasture lands in the Sicilian skies. Here in Malta, even small falcons like the kestrel, which bred in Malta up to the Seventies, are shot for fun. Instead of conservation and eco tourism our political dinosaurs opt for the sure vote catch - keeping quiet and ignoring our, and the European, natural heritage.