Steve Micklewright, Birdlife’s executive director, in a press release dated February 13, states that “Malta hunters and trappers enjoy privileges not given to any of their European counterparts and these privileges are prohibited under European Union wildlife protection regulations” or so he would have us believe.

Criticising the Labour Party leader for stating it would treat hunters and trappers “like those in other European states, such as France” and that “where derogations are applicable, we will apply them,” we assume that he expects any party in government to treat Maltese hunters differently from those in the EU.

While France and other EU states derogate for the trapping of certain species, Birdlife Malta declares that trapping is illegal. Benefiting from government-endorsed EU Life+ funds to the tune of €75,000, plus other local funding, it embarked on a supposed trapper’s educational campaign that others would have funded from their loose change.

Apart from a government-imposed ban on trapping that suited Birdlife’s purposes, these funds have not achieved any tangible results, neither has their spending been publicly accounted for.

With respect to the two derogations (privileges) Malta applies for spring hunting and the autumn trapping of two hunted species, contrary to Birdlife’s false claims that these are prohibited, the European Commission agrees with the framework legislation in force for spring hunting and the Commission Representation states that Malta can derogate for trapping just like any other EU state.

Micklewright conveniently ignores, or is totally ignorant of, the fact that the privileges hunters enjoy in his native country are 2,247 derogations from EU wildlife protection regulations.

The 5,000 quail and 11,000 turtle doves which the Commission agrees upon as a maximum limit for spring derogation pale into insignificance when compared to just one out of the UK’s 2,247 derogations that permits the collection of 28,555 eggs, obviously in spring, of just one species.

I am attaching a graph taken from the 2009 Commission report indicating hunting derogations within the EU to exemplify Birdlife’s untruths about Malta’s privileges. Birdlife tries to influence the electorate and election candidates to support what can only be termed as an anti-hunting crusade.

Considering they object to Labour treating hunters as equal to other EU hunters and to derogations being applied where applicable and without ‘gold plating’, we can only conclude that the Government in power since EU accession has not done what Labour proposes and that a change in government would not be accommodating what their deceit has managed to obtain to the detriment of Malta’s hunters and trappers since EU accession thanks to an obliging government.