Springtime, which happily seems to have had more birds in it this year, has given way to summer. But despite five years of EU membership there is still something missing in our springtime. The number of finches hatching out of nests built by wild breeding pairs in Malta is nowhere close to what it should be.

By comparison, finches are breeding on neighbouring Mediterranean islands at a rate hundreds, even thousands, of times more than in Malta.* For example, the chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, linnet and serin breed in Cyprus in great numbers.

Prior to joining the EU five years ago, Malta negotiated a five-year transition period to phase out trapping of finches. Had it not been for this special agreement, the curtain would have come down on trapping upon Malta's accession to the EU on May 1, 2004.

Part of the package was a promise to reduce the number of finches that were taken from the wild, and the government was supposed to educate trappers. But like many fountains in public gardens after they are inaugurated, the promise ran dry.

We have just had the second spring without an 'official' hunting and trapping season. Last year, the season was cut short after widespread illegal activities became painfully evident.

This year the season never opened. The illegal taking of birds from the wild was again evident earlier in the year, with no sign of reinforcements for the police force's already overstretched Administrative Law Enforcement branch.

In March, a pensioner who was arrested after he was caught trapping, hurled bottles and bit the policemen. An observer at the time sympathised with the enraged 72 year-old: "All of a sudden, his lifelong hobby has been cancelled through a decision of the EU".

Birdlife Malta director Tolga Temuge confirms that many are still unaware that trapping of birds became illegal when the 'transition period' expired at the end of 2008.

The hunter-trapper community cries out that it has been fooled by the government. But Temuge rebuts: "Didn't the hunters' federation (FKNK) read the Birds Directive? The FKNK should have done its homework instead of whining and complaining now.

"If they thought that after joining the EU they could go about with their usual village politics, it cannot be done. We are part of a bigger community now - there are rules and regulations. It is very difficult for trappers to digest and understand," he says.

During the transition period, the government was supposed to speak to trappers and explain why trapping had to stop by December 2008, and why the practice is not allowed by the Birds Directive.

"This is what is written in the accession treaty agreement - but it didn't happen. Not only did government not reduce the number of birds taken or reduce the number of trapping licences, the government did not introduce any kind of education campaign," says Temuge.

Allowing trapping to continue in the same way it did before accession turned the five-year phase-out exemption into something meaningless. Derogations are allowed only under strict criteria which have to be met fully, and are not negotiated at the accession stage.

Shameless defiance of Europe-wide legislation against shooting wild birds before and during the breeding season has been a national embarrassment and a waste of taxpayers' money. After Malta's antics at the European Court of Justice, the Prime Minister backed down to a permanent closure of spring season when faced by extreme EU measures. However, the decision has been poorly enforced.

Temuge detects a downturn in attitude: "Since Dr Gonzi took environment under his office the situation is a mess. This is not only limited to bird conservation but also on many other aspects of the environment, including Mepa policies."

At the last count there were over 4,000 registered trappers in Malta. Bird trapping is sometimes mistakenly thought of as a lesser evil compared to shooting. A hunter who sticks to the rules is allowed to take three shots at certain species. But a trapper using live decoys will net every single bird passing through while the ones he missed last time come back to answer the calls coming from a trapped creature of their own kind.

Speaking on nature conservation, Temuge points out that Birdlife's activities benefit not just birds, but people too. Working in a number of spheres, including agriculture and climate change, this environmental organisation which focuses on wild birds has expertise to back it up.

Birdlife identifies important habitats to be designated as protected areas, like Ghadira and Ta' Cenc, based on the best available bird data, combined with input on other aspects from organisations such as Nature Trust.

People who work for Birdlife are not working only for birds. They believe that a strong organisation or coalition of NGOs (civil society in a democracy) has a duty to hold politicians accountable. "It's not just about going out bird-watching. After you vote for a politician you have to hold them accountable. The best way to do it is through NGOs like Friends of the Earth, the Ramblers Association, Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund and many others," says Temuge.

After the government's persistent failure to meet its accession obligation to trappers there was an attempt to take on this task. A little over a year before the end of the phase-out in December 2008, Birdlife handed in to Mepa a draft bird migration project under the Life Plus scheme in the hope of prompting a joint approach.

Since the Maltese government had made only a half-hearted attempt to fulfil the conditions of the derogation it was obvious that asking the EU Commission for more time was not an option.

"We decided to try and approach the trapping community, explain why trapping cannot continue, and also look for alternatives where they can divert their energy," explains Temuge.

Speaking on the apparent similarities with birdwatchers, Temuge notes that, at first glance, trappers may not seem to be doing as much damage as hunters who kill birds. But simply because there is no blood does not mean trapping has less of an impact on a bird species than hunting. The opposite may well be true.

Trappers will themselves admit that the mortality rate of trapped birds is so high that they have to keep trapping more and more. To keep wild birds alive in captivity and to breed them is a very difficult thing. To the most free creature on the planet, a caged life is a living death behind bars, and a short life at that.

Once you take a wild bird from nature and put it in a cage there is no difference between killing or caging the bird in terms of nature conservation, because it is no longer part of the ecosystem and unlikely to breed in the wild anymore.

* This figure takes into account differences in land area, and varies according to species. Source: Dr Andre Raine, The International Impact of Hunting and Trapping in the Maltese Islands.