Decline of the turtle dove in Europe

In his reply to my letter about the decline of Turtle Doves in Europe, Pierre Zammit (May 17) painstakingly tried to place Malta with North Africa as far as migrating birds are concerned. It is a fact that our islands are further south than the coast of North Africa but does that mean that the Turtle Doves migrating over us are coming or going to North Africa? Definitely not. Practically all Turtle Doves ringed abroad and recovered in Malta originated from European countries.

The Turtle Doves seen on migration here in Malta are going to or coming from their breeding grounds in Europe and as I already mentioned in my original letter, that is the population that will affect us. To say otherwise one has to supply proof and not by just reminding us where Malta is located.

Furthermore, Mr Zammit quotes from the Turtle Dove Management Plan 2007 - 2009, a report commissioned by the European Commission and which features contribution and data by various European bird protection organisations including Birdlife Malta as well as by the The Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE) of which our local hunting federation FKNK is a member. Mr Zammit quotes that "The Turtle Dove is still a widespread and fairly common species in Southern Europe" and he continues by saying that the species is declining only in Northern Europe. I have a copy of this report and the sentence following his quote is "However, except for France, the population in the EU has declined considerably since the 1970s and it is now considered to have an unfavourable conservation status".

So it is definitely not a case of Northern Europe only. The population trend of for example Spain and Greece are also decreasing.

I find quite amusing the fact that Mr Zammit chose to quote from this report to defend spring hunting in Malta when in this same report you find "Of particular concern is hunting during spring migration, which is still practised outside the EU and (illegally) in some other Mediterranean countries" as well as "Spring hunting affect adult birds only and brings additional mortality on bird populations that are ready to breed". Being an action plan, this report also sets up national activities in all EU countries and as far as hunting is concerned, the report specifies that hunting should be in accordance with the EU Bird Directives and hunting does not affect late breeding and birds during spring migration.

Also governments are urged to avoid any derogations for spring hunting and trapping.

Mr Zammit proceeds to give us the breeding range of the Turtle Dove, which is vast and compares it to our tiny island and says that the decline of the Turtle Doves in Europe is entirely unconnected with Maltese hunting. First of all, in my original letter I just said that this species is declining in Europe but never mentioned the causes.

Personally I feel that even if hunting has got nothing to do with the decline, and you know that your quarry is decreasing and that your hobby and that of future generations depends on it, at least give the birds the chance to reproduce. But again quoting the above report, hunting is considered as one of the threats and that is why it has to be regulated and controlled otherwise it will no longer be sustainable.

As for hunting in Malta, again quoting from the above report, the number of Turtle Doves taken as reported by Maltese authorities in 2004 was 10,910. I am sure that this is a very conservative number as it is less than one Turtle Dove per hunter, but just the same, that is equivalent to 5,500 breeding pairs which is equivalent to the whole breeding population of say Estonia or Lithuania or even more than that of Slovenia, all of which are much larger than Malta.

I am not saying that Maltese hunters are decimating whole populations but just stressing that the size of our island is irrelevant, it is the number killed that counts.

And finally, as for the decrease in the population in the UK, where it is protected and the increase in France where it is hunted, quoting from the UK Biodiversity Action Plan for this species, one of the factors causing the decline is "As a long-distance migrant, the Turtle Dove faces threats, particularly from hunting, outside the UK. It is heavily shot in France and the Iberian peninsula".

So one threat for the UK population is the French hunters themselves whilst as regards the French population increasing, as far as I know, there was also a decline there but now it is increasing although the population has not as yet reached previous numbers. One also has to remember that the Turtle Dove in France can only be hunted in autumn, so no spring hunting there as well.

Spring hunting of migrating Turtle Doves is illegal throughout all EU member states and it is there to protect and conserve the species for future generations, be it birdwatchers, hunters or any other EU citizens. We no longer regard natural resources, including wildlife, as inexhaustible. We are now living in the 21st Century where sustainability is the order of the day, even for hunting.