Hunters shoot down woodland regulations
The hunters’ federation has strongly objected to sections of the draft Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations, saying it is “astonishingly clear they are the result of armchair thinking with little basis in reality”.
The regulations, in particular the parts relating to invasive or alien species, had to be revised and amended to take into account that the majority of present plantations contributed in no small measure to the beauty of the landscape, the federation insisted.
It said compensatory measures should be in place for any trees that had to be replaced and at no cost to the landowners and insisted that no discrimination between different entities took place.
Over the past 30 years, anyone going for rambling walks in the countryside could not have failed to notice that the islands presented a less arid landscape and much more greenery in spite of all the adverse conditions, such as lack of water resources. “This environment ‘miracle’ did not happen overnight,” the hunters said. “It took much time and patience and was mainly brought about by the hunters and trappers of Malta and Gozo who did their utmost to transform their mini-acres from semi-desert into miniature oases.”
They did so by investing their time, labour, energy and money in planting thousands of trees and nursing them to full growth, it said, adding that, as a result of such efforts, the countryside looked “a great deal better” than it did a generation ago.
It pointed out the density (as many as 200 woodlands) of mixed acacia/eucalyptus tree plantations planted and cared for by hunters and trappers at the southern end of Malta. “It cannot be denied that, without any fanfare, the hunters and trappers have contributed the lion’s share to the greening of the Maltese islands over many years,” the federation said.
The new Trees and Woodlands Regulations are “all set to deal a major blow to this great achievement by paving the way for the possibility that all such trees be destroyed and removed at the sole discretion of the competent authority”, it said, describing the situation as “a monster... rearing its head”.
That would be a “great folly and would constitute a massive setback for the very environment they purport to protect”, it said.
The federation, many of whose members are directly involved in the planting and growth of trees, should be represented on the board of the competent authority, it insisted.
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Hugh Jampton
Nov 7th 2011, 23:22
" Hunters claim Tree hugger status" oh please that really is pathetic.
What surveys did the honourable members do of the topography and what specialist expertise was consulted on what to plant before the greening of Malta took place?
It appears that Eucalyptus is a favoured tree of the members which is rather strange as it is considered no proved not to be a bird friendly tree and is not a native one either.
So the only conclusion a sane person could reach is they are being planted as a quick fix tree to provide foliage to encourage birds to alight so hunters can obliterate them.
I see its classed as a sporting activity but any number of people attempting to kill the same bird at the same time cannot be considered sporting in the true sense of the word.
M. Cardona
Nov 8th 2011, 10:25
Mr Jampton
you evidently have a right to a qualified opinion, hence what surveys and expertise have you consulted before asserting that eucalypts are not "a bird friendly tree"?
Going by your assumptions how would you term the management of shooting grounds (ground crops, copse management, coppicing) in UK? I am sure you sustain the same negative approach i.e.that it is not sporting.
Mr JamptonI fully concur that it takes "a sane" person to form a qualified and sound opinion.
Hugh Jampton
Nov 8th 2011, 22:21
M. Cardona: Dear mr Cardona If you care to look at the other (first) thread on this subject you will find the relevant information you seek that I posted a couple of days ago. you will then see that it is not an 'assumtion' that im making!
Im suprised you missed it?? but if you fail to spot it i will re post it for you my myopic dear friend..
Oh by the Way it was Carried out under the auspice of the EU.....
Why are you so concerned about practices in the UK ? There are enough rules and regulations and stipulations there, regarding the planting of trees..... coppicing by the way was carried out long befor the invention of gunpowder so i fail to see your point.
do read the salient document.....
Alex Ellul
Nov 7th 2011, 22:58
Mr. M. Cardona, I am happy to tell you that you are right about being not good at maths. Because you forgot to divide your 56 by 2, since there are two hunting seasons in a year. Read again what I wrote. So, if yi do your math correctly you will arrive to the 28 gms of lead per cartridge (correct me if I m wrong since my mathematical knowledge is an order of magitude or ten greater than I my hunting knowledge.)
Regarding steel or bismuth, yes I would be very happy if lead was removed from the hunting cartridge. As I have guesstimated, we are spreading in our agricultural areas something like 560 tonnes of lead every decade, or 56,000 tons of lead in a millenium. As you very well know, the countries this side of the world had abolished leaded fuels years ago so as to avoid making our new boen babies grow up into idiots from lead poisoning.
Next stop is the lead in the hunting cartridge. Replace it with bismuth or steel. You will not be disappointed.
With regards to the chemistry part, were you insisted that lead becomes covered with a layer of lead oxide; you may be right if it's in laboratory conditions, but there are nasty things out there other than oxygen. Nitrates and nitrous and nitric acids as products of thunderstorms, fertilsers. Ammonia is there too... There are bacterias that process metals, and many other unkown chemicals that may or may not leach lead into our water table.
The precautionary principle may just come in handy here. Malta's health authorities may have something to say too. Wait a few years and we'll get there.
No whining, just being realistic. So I m still here and not in some place else. Why are hunters and their lobbyists so arrogant?
M. Cardona
Nov 8th 2011, 10:18
Mr Alex Ellul,
you seem to be in a state of confusion. Annual deposit is just that ANNUAL as in your "every year".
please sustain your argument re-lead shot leaching into the soil with scientific evidence otherwise your claims are worth only crap.
Sur Ellul by my books Arrogance is one's faulty pretension of knowledge.
The article was about trees. You opted to whine about lead and then made a poor show of it.
Back to the real subject of this news item, I'd wish to know your knowledgeable opinion re-trees i.e. carob, pine, cypress, oak, olive and an endless list of other tree species which are no longer protected (protected only in ODZ) w/e LN 200 of 2011 i.e. once a permit is granted for development these trees lose their protected status. In the haste to hit at hunters and their interest (their schedule 3 trees) many have missed the wood for the trees (if you'll excuse the pun). Since LN 200 of 2011, countless tress have thus already been cut down shamelessly.
Why do birdies have bird brains?
M. Cardona
Nov 7th 2011, 16:48
@Mr Alex Ellul,
lead shot oxidizes once exposed to the elements. The lead oxide outer coating prevents any leaching into the soil. So you may wish to review your calculations and inferences although I remain somewhat sure your issue isn't really whether the shot is lead, steel or bizmuth.
Furthermore, if you'll excuse my maths; (I never was any good at it) 56 tonnes (annual deposit) divided by 10,000,000 shots = 56 grams per cartridge shot? 100 years ago? Only in the 80's shotguns were manufactured and proofed for more than 40 grams and then typically as goose guns which never took off locally. Nice calculation of a typical birdie with notoriously typical millions.
Now go whine some place else.
Alex Ellul
Nov 7th 2011, 09:04
If 10,000 hunters shoot 100 cartridges every season, they deposit 56 metric tons of lead in our soil every year. Now, if hunters have been doing this for 100 years, then we have deposited in our agriculturally sensitive areas of Malta 5600 tons of lead.
The trees planted by hunters are quick-growing trees that deplete the soil from nutrients.
So now we have a lead-poisoned, nutrient deficient bird-free island.
Farrku Kollox in-Nies Kattivi