(Adds SHout reaction)

Hunters this morning took the media to the Mizieb reserve for a news conference about their ‘conservation’ work and to rebut claims by the Spring Houting Out campaign (Shout) that Malta was losing nature to hunters

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Hunter Romina Cuschieri said the Mizieb hunting reserve was entrusted to the hunters’ federation (FKNK) in an agreement signed 1986 and confirmed in 2011.

Through this agreement FKNK had the right to use the reserve during the hunting season, maintain the area and keep it clean and accessible to the public when it is not hunting season.

Before it was taken over by FKNK, the area was overgrown and not very accessible to public.

With the government’s support, hunters planted indigenous trees, restores girnas, built rubble walls, removed weeds, cleared pathways, pruned the trees, installed picnic benches and saw that the area was kept clean.

Hunters cleaning up Mizieb. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Unfortunately, Ms Cuschieri said, there was also a lot of vandalism and the benches that had been installed were stolen.

She pointed out that the reserve was not blocked off by gates so people were free to enter when it was not hunting season. In spring, Ms Cuschieri said, hunters occupied it for just 20 mornings, as in afternoons it was reopened to the public.

She accused BirdLife and friends of not wanting to accept the fact that the area was managed by FKNK in line with the agreement and of being deceitful to the public by feeding the wrong information.

Ms Cuschieri said hunters welcomed foreigners in Malta but there were a few who came and expected to tell the Maltese what to do and ignore their cultures. This, she said, was not acceptable.

She announced that the FKNK would, later on this year, he organising a family outing at Mizieb, during which families would be able to go and see what Mizieb was all about. Hunters would also be cooking their catches using traditional recipes. Asked whether this would be held before or after the referendum, she said that the date had not yet been said but noted that this was not the first event of its kind organised by hunters.

The Mizieb hunting reserve is on around 200 tumoli of land and 325 hunters are allowed to hunt in it. To be accepted in, hunters had to be members of FKNK and commit to carrying out voluntary work on the site. There was a waiting list of hunters wanting to make use of it.

Asked what the FKNK’s stand on the referendum was going to be, President Joe Perici Calascione said the federation would be giving directions at a later stage as the final decision had not yet been taken.

He admitted however, that the federation’s appeal to minorities that they could be next would be part of their campaign.

No formal agreement for use of Mizieb ever produced by hunters - SHout

Photo: SHout

In a reaction, SHout insisted that hunters had never been able to produce a formal agreement for their use of Miżieb.

On the other hand, there were legal agreements in place for nature reserves managed by NGOs such as BirdLife Malta, Gaia and Nature Trust, all of which had to follow a strict framework for the work they carried out on the land.

SHout campaign coordinator Romina Tolu said that besides not showing such a formal agreement for the use of Miżieb, hunters also actively tried to exclude the public from enjoying the area by placing 'no entry' signs.

“They don't want people to see what really goes on in there when the media aren't looking," she said.

She added that voting no on April 11 would transform this publicly owned land from a hunting hotspot in spring to a living woodland where birds could rest, nest and the public enjoy a peaceful walk or picnic at the best time of year.