53 ornithologists for BirdLife's monitoring camp

No fewer than 53 international volunteers from six countries will be taking part in this year's raptor camp, making it the largest bird monitoring camp organised by BirdLife Malta to date.

The conservation organisation has been holding international bird monitoring camps since late 1990s. This year's camp will be held between September 8 and 23.

Andrè Raine, BLM conservation manager, said the international response this year exceeded all expectations to the extent that BirdLife had to close the camp to more applicants.

Among the international participants are well known scientists and ornithologists from a range of international conservation organisations who are volunteering their time towards protection.

The main objective of the raptor camp in Malta is to collect data on migratory species, particularly birds of prey, and in this way document the importance of Malta for bird migration.

The data will be particularly important to increase international understanding of migratory routes of a range of species between Europe, where they breed, and Africa, where they rest for the winter. During the migration period, Malta is a critical stop-over point for migrating species, which use the islands as a resting and refuelling area before continuing on their epic journeys. A recent BirdLife report showed that birds from at least 47 countries pass over Malta during migration periods.

The second aim of the raptor camp is to act as a deterrent for hunters who break the law. Participants will document all illegal hunting activities and will immediately pass information on to the police to facilitate their efforts to bring law-breakers to justice.

Another European-based organisation - the Committee Against Bird Slaughter - will also be holding a similar camp in Malta in September.

"Although this is a completely separate effort than BirdLife's raptor camp, we are happy to see that more international and national organisations are becoming active on the issue of illegal hunting in Malta. As long as the activities of other organisations are non-violent and peaceful, BirdLife Malta welcomes them all and will be ready to cooperate if need arises," Dr Raine said.