Driving the message home

As the weather warms up, and spring creeps in to replace winter, more support continues to pour in from all quarters for BirdLife Malta's campaign to stop illegal spring hunting.

Following the adhesion of 13 well-known personalities to the campaign earlier this month, Birdlife has continued to take its message to the streets. Mobile billboards featuring the personalities were ferried by quad bikes around the island visiting various locations with their message, from the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party's headquarters to Castille EU Representation in Malta. Billboards were also put up around the island, with two of them becoming the target of vandal attacks.

Birdlife volunteers also manned stands at University and at Freedom Square in Valletta with members of the public enthusiastically approaching Birdlife and expressing their support on this issue.

Furthermore, Birdlife 's message also formed part of two runs. Andrew Cockroft, a field ornithologist and Birdlife UK member, participated in a 10km run in the UK wearing Birdlife 's T-shirt and succeeded to complete the course in one hour, while Stephen Brook wore Birdlife 's T-shirt while participating in Malta's half marathon last weekend.

Birdlife's campaign also attracted the support of leading personalities, from prominent businessmen to sports figures, who contacted the organisation to get their own 'Stop Illegal Spring Hunting' T-shirt. Several columnists mentioned the campaign in their writings, as well as Malta's favourite female singer Ira Losco, who blogged about the campaign on timesofmalta.com.

Spring hunting is illegal in the rest of Europe in accordance with the Birds Directive. This legislation clearly states that hunting in spring should not take place because this is the time of the year when birds start to breed.

Therefore, if hunting were to happen in spring, birds would be killed before they have a chance to multiply, thus making it an unsustainable practice. Additionally, according to the latest scientific studies, 43 per cent of Europe's bird species are threatened or facing serious decline and therefore, not in a good conservation status. What few here may know is that this also includes Turtle Dove and Common Quail, which are the two species 'legally' hunted in spring in Malta.

The question many ask is why are birds so important? Birds play an important role in the effective functioning of eco-systems. As birds are high up in the food chain, they are also good indicators of the general state of our biodiversity. When they start disappearing, it means that something is wrong with our environment and that we need to take action.

In this run-up to the elections, a number of the political parties are laying a lot of emphasis on the environment, with one party proposing that Gozo be turned into an eco-island. This should come as no surprise since in the recent past the Maltese people have spoken up rather vociferously on matters pertaining to the environment. Furthermore, Malta has the potential of attracting a number of cultured tourists through ecotourism initiatives, and this includes bird-watching.

Now is the time for us to make our voices heard. Now is the time for us to appeal to the two main parties to take a decision in the interest of the majority of the Maltese population and our natural heritage. Now is the time to stop spring hunting once and for all.

Visit www.birdlifemalta.org for more information on BirdLife Malta's campaign. Behind-the-scenes footage of the photo-shoot involving the 13 personalities can also be viewed on the website.

Marija Schranz is Birdlife Malta communications co-ordinator.