The international petition against illegal hunting in Malta initiated last Monday has received over 22,000 signatures in just one week, BirdLife Malta said today.

The international campaign is aimed at Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and demands that all hunting legislation is fully enforced and spring hunting is no longer permitted in Malta.

"Although the BirdLife partnership is primarily targeting its members with this petition and it has been only a week since we launched it, support is pouring in from all corners of the world. Moreover, opinion polls in Malta have shown that the overwhelming majority is strongly against the illegal killing of migratory birds and the unsustainable practice of spring hunting." said Joseph Mangion, BirdLife Malta President.

BirdLife Malta stated that it had submitted a detailed report on how to deal with illegal hunting to the Office of the Prime Minister in 2008. To date, BirdLife has not received any feedback on the report. The organisation will be resubmitting the proposal to the OPM in the coming days.

"We also hope that Dr Gonzi will respect the European Court ruling on spring hunting which found Malta in breach of the Birds Directive and will not risk the country being taken to the Court a second time. Should this happen, the country may face hefty fines which will come out of tax payer's pockets." concluded Mr Mangion.