Bird protection efforts praised at BirdLife activity

Efforts to conserve Europe’s threatened natural heritage received support from high-level decision makers in Brussels yesterday night, BirdLife said.

The support was given during a BirdLife International event celebrating the 30th anniversary of the EU Birds Directive.

“It is self-evident that protecting birds needs effective international cooperation and it was therefore no coincidence that the Wild Birds Directive was the first piece of EU Environmental legislation dedicated to nature conservation,” Environment EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

On behalf of the EU Presidency, Czech deputy environment minister František Pelc, congratulated Europeans for 30 years of bird protection.

On a video message, African conservationists from Burkina Faso conveyed their gratitude to the EU for protecting African birds during their summer stay in Europe.

Messages in support of the Birds Directive and photos from 36 personalities from 16 EU member states were displayed.

The list includes former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Ruud Lubers, Italian MTV presenter Paola Maugeri, British wildlife presenters Chris Pakham and Kate Humble, Lithuanian MEP Aloyzas Sakalas and award winning artist Niki Gravino from Malta among others.

In his statement in support of the Birds Directive Niki Gravino said: “The EU Birds Directive is a great tool which prevents over-exploitation of our natural heritage and ensures that spring migration over Malta is an ordeal of survival not death.”

Scientific studies show that the Birds Directive already helped many birds to recover their populations in Europe. However, more than 40 percent of long-distance migratory bird species have declined in the last three decades and are continuing to decline, Birdlife said.

It welcomed the Commissioner’s statements the Commissioner in favour of the Birds and Habitats directives and said that misconceptions and attacks on EU’s nature protection directives from some stakeholders and politicians had to be overcome since they did not make at a time of environmental and economic crisis.