Birdlife's international volunteers asked for police protection as they kicked off their raptor camp yesterday.
With ruffled hair, bright red T-shirts and a range of different accents, Birdlife's international volunteers, hailing from seven countries, yesterday insisted that their main priority was to monitor bird migration.
Speaking during a news conference, Birdlife officials said the volunteers would be inputting information into a database to understand the movements and record the sightings for further scientific study.
But the volunteers are also activists dedicated to putting a stop to illegal hunting practices such as the shooting of protected species and the attacking of bird sanctuaries.
The camp will see 42 international conservationists observing birds from 33 localities around Malta and Gozo, led by 15 Maltese birdwatchers. They will also be recording any illegal practices to the police, and acting as a deterrent to hunters tempted to break the law.
Birdlife Malta president Joseph Mangion said that the hunters' federation had repeatedly issued threatening press statements that incited xenophobia and violence against the birdwatchers.
He claimed that last Friday a group of more than 10 hunters approached birdwatchers in Girgenti and told them in no uncertain terms not to return the next day.
"The police have failed to take action, and the government is silent," Mr Mangion said.
Birdlife has sent a letter to the Police Commissioner drawing attention to FKNK's public statements which it claims "violate a number of clauses of the Criminal Code".
Birdlife is calling for legal action against FKNK and for the safety of the volunteers to be ensured.
"For once in my life I feel I'm doing something useful," said a volunteer from the UK.
This is not his first time at the camp, and he says that he had already been sworn at, spat at and had his tyres slashed.
"I'm not against hunting, and I'm the first to eat pheasant and other birds during autumn. But I am against illegal and unsustainable practices."
Birdlife Malta has been organising the camp since the 1990s, but despite its efforts it claims that illegal practices are on the increase.
It said that in the past three weeks over 250 illegal hunting incidents were reported, but very little action was taken since police were thin on the ground.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," a spokesman for Birdlife claimed. He said most of the evidence related to illegal hunting was concealed, and that the number of injured birds found by volunteers and policemen was alarming.