A representative of Malta has been elected by the parties of the Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats to chair and steer the network on the eradication of illegal killing, trapping and trade in wild birds.

At a meeting in Albania, the convention elected Sergei Golovkin, head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit as chairman of the network. His nomination for this role comes in the wake of the convention's recognition of the "major" legal, administrative, judicial and enforcement reforms implemented by Malta over the past three years, which resulted in the improvement of the protection for wild birds and major reduction in wildlife crime, according to a government statement.

The reforms implemented by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit included, among others, doubling the penalties for all forms of bird-related crime and a 10-fold increase in the penalties against illegal targeting of birds.

"Achieved in just three years, the success of Malta's reforms placed the country among the best performing countries in the implementation of Bern Convention's Tunis Action Plan on the Eradication of Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade in Wild Birds and is recognised by the convention amongst best practice examples."

Mr Golovkin shall also represent the convention's work on eradication of illegal killing of birds in other international fora, including in the meetings of Convention on Migratory Species Mediterranean Task Force on Illegal Killing of Birds.