Photo: Kurt Sansone

Hunters play an important role in environment conservation, an area in which they had a lot of common ground with those in the ‘No’ camp, Yes (for spring hunting) campaign spokesman Darren Caruana said today.

He was speaking at Ghar Lapsi following the signing of an agreement between the hunters’ federation and the Malta Climbing Association for the creation of an environment “in which hunters or trappers and climbers can enjoy a friendly relationship to their mutual benefit”.

Mr Caruana spoke about 10 principles which he said should lead people to vote Yes in the referendum.

These included that the countryside could be enjoyed by all if a right balance was found between the different interests.

The memorandum, he said, was one example of collaboration between different interest groups.

Mr Caruana said that the “yes” campaign was all out for responsible hunting and against criminality.

Asked whether hunters could be trusted to observe the law and show respect, he said that, like in every sector there are people who broke the law but “ we should work together to eliminate these illegalities”, he said..

He insisted that Maltese hunters also had the right to enjoy the same rights as their EU counterparts.

Mr Caruana said that the limited spring hunting season in Malta was sustainable and had no impact on the population of both quails and turtledoves.