Government to sanction spring hunting - BirdLife

Birdlife Malta has accused the government of using the Ornis Committee to take the heat to sanction hunting in spring.

The ornithology group is incensed ahead of a much-anticipated Ornis Committee meeting tomorrow and claimed the Environment Minister was using the committee as a scapegoat to appease the hunters' unacceptable demands.

BLM blew its top after receiving the agenda for tomorrow's meeting with the only item up for discussion being the "decision on the conditions and the periods under which the derogation for hunting and trapping of turtledove and quail during the Spring period is to be recommended to the minister".

When contacted, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry insisted that a decision on spring hunting had not yet been taken, and that this will rely on the outcome of tomorrow's meeting.

However, the ministry underlined in a statement last Friday that its application of the derogation (under which spring hunting can take place) is "well-founded and within the legal framework of the EU Birds Directive". The government said it is prepared to defend its position even in the European Court of Justice.

In the meantime, the hunters have kept up the pressure. In a short statement, the federation said that despite the reservations it has over the "unbalanced" composition of the Ornis Committee, it would be returning to the committee it recently shunned, and forward a series of proposals tomorrow.

The federation is doing this to ensure the minister does not come up with an "excuse" as to why the government had not yet opened the hunting and trapping season.

The hunting issue has once again prompted an incendiary debate. The hunters' federation has chosen to temporarily close off its Website forum after messages were posted inciting hunters to violence should their hobby be obstructed, while the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds presented a 115,000-signature petition to the Prime Minister.

Last Thursday, Ornis committee chairman Dr Tonio Azzopardi announced his resignation citing "personal reasons".

Malta is the only country which permits spring hunting for two bird species, as the government applies a derogation as permitted under Article 9 of the Birds Directive. Every year, however, Malta has to justify the derogation, which is permitted only if it is proved that there is no alternative.

BLM warned the Ornis Committee that it cannot recommend the opening of a new spring hunting season in 2007 at its meeting tomorrow in the absence of any scientific data that show that there is no alternative to hunting in spring.

It also pointed out that a discussion on law enforcement was also once again put on the back burner.

The BirdLife representative on the Ornis committee, Joseph Mangion, charged: "The agenda received makes the government's intentions obvious. They have already taken the decision to violate EU law for a fourth consecutive year by allowing hunting in spring in 2007."

BLM said that while the police were being requested to take action against hunters who were inciting violence and terrorism on their Website forum, the government was obviously making plans to appease the same small group of bullies.

"It is still shocking to see just how shameless this government can be," Mr Mangion charged.

In a letter sent to new Ornis chairman Louis Cilia on Friday, BLM insisted that tomorrow's meeting cannot be used to recommend to the Environment Minister the opening of the spring hunting season in 2007.

The conservation organisation warned the new chairman and other members of the committee that their role was to make recommendations on how best to observe the implementation of the Birds Directive.

Mr Mangion said the committee is an independent body set up to advise government on best practice. If a body is truly independent, then science and law ought to be its main reference.

A vote within the Ornis Committee to suggest to Government the breaching of EU law for a fourth consecutive year would prove that it is nothing more than a mechanism to serve the political agenda.

BLM reminded Mr Cilia that the Maltese government has failed to justify its decision to open the spring hunting season for three consecutive years since it joined the EU in 2004.

The Commission has, to date, received nothing from the Maltese government to justify these derogations, in spite of the opening of the infringement process against Malta last June. A fourth provocation of EU law is likely to increase the hefty fines expected from the EU for non-compliance.