BirdLife Malta alleged that, on Thursday, two men were hunting inside a protected area.

The land in question is the so-called “Għadira Nature Reserve protected zone”. This actually means that BirdLife Malta lords it over the actual Għadira Nature Reserve, the Foresta 2000 Nature Reserve, which is an extension of the original sanctuary, and, over and above that, an additional ‘buffer zone’ around the protected wetland reserve.

The Għadira Nature Reserve had formerly been in private hands for hunting purposes. Up to about 10 years ago, the Foresta 2000 was also open to hunters until BirdLife Malta decided, with the connivance of the Nationalist Government, to take it over without consulting the users of that land. The third part of the land was appropriated later by BirdLife Malta on the pretext that it would serve as a buffer zone. In the span of a few years, therefore, the hunters of Mellieħa were deprived of a sizeable portion of their hunting grounds. These grounds were also freely accessible to the public for their enjoyment.

This is not to mention other hunting territories spread over these islands that have, in the meantime, fallen into BirdLife Malta’s hands to the Maltese hunters’ detriment. Then, BirdLife Malta has the effrontery to say that the countryside has been taken over by the hunters.

Worse still, BirdLife Malta is never satisfied with what it has and is forever whining about this and that and inviting foreigners to support its insatiable appetite for more.