The letter by Mark Mifsud Bonnici of Kaċċaturi San Ubertu (BirdLife's Credibility At Stake, April 8) makes unfounded allegations about our organisation and its staff.

Mr Mifsud Bonnici claims that BirdLife Malta is using the illegal persecution of protected birds as an excuse to ban all hunting in Malta. He also goes on to claim that BirdLife Malta conservation manager André Raine signed a petition calling for "a ban on hunting in Malta" and he claims that, therefore, "BirdLife's reports including those on illegal hunting" cannot be considered "as credible knowing that the person responsible for such reports is totally biased against hunting".

BirdLife Malta checked the petition Mr Mifsud Bonnici referred to and found no evidence that Dr Raine of BirdLife Malta signed the petition in question. The number (no.1745) Mr Mifsud Bonnici provides as some sort of "evidence" refers to an "Andrew Raine" and not "André Raine". He fails to mention this "small" detail that both names actually do not match.

Whether he actually believes that Dr Raine cannot write his name correctly or he deliberately left out this detail is unknown. But if Mr Mifsud Bonnici had tried Google or any other search engine on the internet or websites such as Facebook, he could have easily learnt that there are many individuals whose name is Andrew Raine who could have signed the petition in question.

Furthermore, BirdLife Malta is informed by the owners of the petition Mr Mifsud Bonnici refers to that the petition in question was initiated on February 8, 2006. Dr Raine started working for BirdLife Malta in January 2007, almost a year later.

The bottom line is that regardless of what his personal views may be on the hunting issue in Malta or whether he signed a petition before he joined BirdLife Malta, Dr Raine, both locally and, more so, internationally is a respected and credible scientist in the field of ornithology. He obtained his PhD in ornithology in England, is a highly-qualified bird ringer and has vast ornithological field experience as he worked on conservation projects in Zambia, the Peruvian Amazon, Vietnam and the Seychelles for many years. As a professional conservationist employed by BirdLife Malta, Dr Raine has always fully complied with the policies and rules of our organisation including those on the issue of hunting.

To suggest that BirdLife Malta's reports "cannot be considered credible" because Dr Raine is responsible for these reports is defamatory, to say the least. Mr Mifsud Bonnici seems to be completely alien as to how scientific studies are prepared, conducted and verified through various levels.

Mr Mifsud Bonnici is obviously spending quite some time browsing the internet in the hope of finding anything he can use against BirdLife Malta. During his time on the internet or on the BirdLife Malta website, he must have surely come across several BirdLife Malta statements where our organisation stated that it acknowledges the right of hunters to hunt at certain periods and on certain bird species, as long as it is in line with the Birds Directive.

Just to give one example, in September 2007, when asked by a MaltaToday reporter about the position of BirdLife Malta on the issue of hunting, Dr Raine answered: "As BirdLife Malta stands, we are not trying to ban hunting completely in Malta. What we hope is for Malta to respect EU regulations and bird directives, which would allow birds to breed in Malta".

Mr Mifsud Bonnici's denial of the scale of illegal hunting, coupled with his lack of knowledge in conservation science, makes him the last person who should speak about credibility.

Mr Mifsud Bonnici may choose to make statements on conservation science without having sufficient knowledge and may also continue to make unfounded allegations about BirdLife's credibility but we believe that The Times, as a respected media company, has the responsibility to double check facts before publishing such letters, which are full of misinformation and defamatory statements.

Editorial note:
If, as Mr Temuge says, Dr Raine did not sign the petition in question, The Times regrets the mistake.