Reducing fines and penalties in relation to hunting and trapping would only benefit those who break the law, BirdLife Malta said today, saying that only those willing to risk breaking the law would be happy with such a promise.

“The real issue is not the size of the fines. The real issue that BirdLife Malta has been continually highlighting is the serious lack of enforcement. Without the presence of environmental NGOs such as BirdLife Malta in the countryside, very few cases are brought to justice. In view of this, it is high time Malta has a government who is willing to tackle this seriously by setting up a proper Wildlife Crime Unit within the police force,” it said.

Without the presence of environmental NGOs such as BirdLife Malta in the countryside, very few cases are brought to justice

The fine reduction proposal was made by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, but in its statement today, BirdLife was less than impressed by both the two main political parties.

“To add insult to injury, rather than focusing on who will best protect the environment, they are trying to garner votes from trappers and hunters. It seems that in 2017 both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, who are both hoping to govern our country, are more concerned on the pastime of killing and trapping birds than on telling us how they plan to safeguard our natural environment,” it said.

Safeguarding the environment is the backbone of the 10 electoral proposals that BirdLife Malta presented to all political parties this week.

Read: BirdLife Malta’s 10 electoral proposals

https://we.tl/acvNzzpBm6