BirdLife said today it suspects that the Labour Party and hunters are reaching some sort of agreement to do away with local hunting provisions not stipulated by the EU.

Speaking in front of the law courts during a protest calling for more action on wildlife crime, BirdLife Malta director Steve Micklewright said he suspected the PL wanted to remove a 3pm hunting curfew which was place for two weeks in September.

The only reason one would want to remove this curfew was to allow hunting for birds of prey, which was illegal, he said.

Mr Micklewright said the PL had already pledged to remove the €50 spring hunting fee and wondered how the PL would fund the additional wildlife policing it had promised while doing away with licence fees.

He said Labour leader Joseph Muscat was non-committal when asked about these issues but he had at least listened carefully to BirdLife’s concerns.

BirdLife, Mr Micklewright said, had sent a letter to both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Dr Muscat saying that lack of police enforcement and specialised training meant that only a small fraction of wildlife crime was caught, a smaller amount was prosecuted and an even smaller amount was found guilty.

He said BirdLife knew of at least seven meetings held behind closed doors between PL candidates and hunters. PL candidates who held such meetings included Chris Cardona, Anthony Agius Decelis, Joe Mizzi, Franco Mercieca and Charles Mangion.

BirdLife conservation and policy officer Christian Debono said BirdLife last year recorded 2,000 cases of illegal hunting and 220 shots on protected species, almost half of which during the hunting season.

He said the organisation collected 101 shot protected birds between January and November last year.

Voters, Mr Debono said, had the power to make politicians aware that this was an important issue and he urged the public to question politicians when they knocked on their doors.

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