The number of licensed bird trappers in Malta has fallen by 42 per cent since 2008 - from 4,616 to 2,643 this month, Geoffrey Saliba, manager or BirdLife's EU Life+ Project on bird migration and trapping said this morning.

Addressing a news conference held to announce that the project had been concluded, Mr Saliba said that as part of this project, BirdLife had compiled a report with details of 4,787 surveyed sites surveyed around Malta and Gozo.

The sites were surveyed from the air and on the ground to find illegal trapping sites. Mr Saliba said that a fourth of the sites found were active or maintained. Well over 95 per cent were used to trap finches illegally.

The project also engaged with hunters to create dialogue and try to enlighten them about alternative activities they could pursue.

This proved to be quite a positive exercise. Dialogue was embarked upon with 411 trappers, a number of whom showed an interest in pursuing other interests, mainly captive bird breeding and competition. Others showed an interest in wildlife photography and the scientific analysis of birds.

Malta had applied derogation on trapping 2008 to last year but this year the season was not opened following the EU Commission opening an infringement case against Malta.

Mr Saliba noted that in January 2009, when the project was just starting, BirdLife had approached the Hunters' Federation, FKNK, to come up with ways through which trappers and hunters could engage in different activities.

The meeting had been positive but the FKNK then refused BirdLife requests for further meetings.

The organisation said it hoped to continue its dialogue with the various hunters and trappers and its doors were open to any organisation, including the FKNK.