CABS, the German-based NGO against bird hunting today criticised the government's decision to allow spring hunting for a week, and said it would send eight 'bird guards' to monitor the situation.

"The decision by the Maltese Government to once again permit spring hunting of Turtle Dove and Quail has been criticised by conservationists throughout Europe. "This is bad news for the populations of two species that are already endangered in large parts of the EU", said Heinz Schwarze, President of the German-based Committee against Bird Slaughter (CABS).

The organisation said that a so-called derogation from the Birds Directive, as applied in this case by the Maltese government, was legally very questionable, as hunting of birds on pre-nuptial migration could never be considered sustainable.

"The hunting of migrant birds at a point in time when the species-specific winter losses are already evident causes a far higher damage to populations than hunting in autumn" CABS president Heinz Schwarze said.

CABS said that the populations of both species had greatly declined in Germany and other EU member states.

Furthermore, CABS said, the opening of the hunting season"is for some hunters an open invitation to illegally shoot birds of prey."

"CABS have great misgivings about the ability of the undermanned environmental police unit A.L.E. to conduct effective controls over the restrictions imposed by the government. Over the past few decades it has proved to be beyond the capability of the police to prevent poaching during the legal hunting season -- why should this year be different?

It said it would be sending a team of eight Bird Guards to Malta this Friday, with the task of compiling data on the extent of illegal hunting for one week before and during the debatable spring hunting season. Their operations will be conducted from April 16 to April 30

and will include the recording of the killing of protected species as well as the mapping of illegal bird callers. In addition, police reaction times to reports of illegal hunting activity will be documented in detail and included in a final report to the European Commission.

Meanwhile, BirdLife, in a separate statement, said the governemnt was to blame for the fact that the police were ill-equipped to deal with illegal hunting.

"The police were unable to respond to almost half the reports filed by only two BirdLife Malta surveillance teams over the last weeks, showing an ill-equipped force failing in spite of the best intentions," the organisation said.

It said it put two teams in the field in the past two weeks. They came across illegal trapping sites on almost every occasion, in spite of covering only a limited area in Malta.

"The teams, in just over two weeks, came across 78 illegal active finch trapping sites and filed 32 reports to the police, where single reports covered multiple illegalities in the same area. Each team spent most of the time in the field waiting for the police to arrive. Too often, they did not come.

"In over 67 per cent of the cases it took over an hour for the police to arrive, which meant most of the trappers had ample time to get away. Trappers were caught on only five occasions."

BirdLife said that in many instances, the only available ALE vehicle was far from the location of the crime - the longest response time was 2 hours and 37 minutes. Police officers from local stations turned up on only three occasions, showing district police were not sufficient reinforcement to back up the ALE.

Even when the police did manage to turn up, trapping 'equipment' such as decoy birds and nets weere often not even confiscated. The police have no place to keep the birds prior to the case going to court.

"The lack of resources plaguing the ALE shows a clear lack of commitment by the government to enforce hunting and trapping legislation. Currently, there is little control in the countryside," BirdLife said.

46 volunteers from eight countries are in Malta for the organisation's Spring Watch camp where teams will record illegalities in the countryside. The camp will last three weeks and, for the first time, it will be a joint operation with CABS . The resulting evidence and analysis will be shared with government and the European Commission.

Video footage issued by BirdLife Malta

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