Proposed changes in bird protection laws have prompted five voluntary organisations to turn down an invitation to sit on a new State board focusing on climate change.
Friends of the Earth Malta, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Nature Trust Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa and Ramblers have declined to nominate a representative, questioning the government’s credibility and commitment to safeguarding the environment.
Their decision was formally announced today in a paid advert in this newspaper, in which they outlined the motives behind their boycott of the Climate Action Board.
This entity will be responsible for monitoring Malta’s efforts to fulfil its obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and advise the government on the implementation of the recently enacted Climate Change Act.
Environmentalist and Friends of the Earth honorary chairman Edward Mallia told this newspaper that the “straw which broke the camel’s back” was the proposed changes to the Wild Birds Regulations.
“Environment Minister Leo Brincat returned from last month’s COP21 Summit in France in triumphant mode when atthe same time his ministry was propos-ing changes which would weaken enforcement and encourage hunting trips outside the EU.” Prof. Mallia said. He claimed the motive behind the new regulations was to appease businesses profiting from hunting trips to places like Argentina and Ethiopia.
Birdlife Malta last month urged the government to ditch these changes saying they would constitute a form of amnesty for anyone in possession of birds such as eagles caught outside Europe.
In its reaction the government denied the claims, saying the law would still disallow possession of non-European species. Explaining their decision, the NGOs accused the government of being “hell-bent on appeasing rather than doing the right thing”.
While reiterating their criticism of a series of controversial decisions like the Żonqor point development, allowing trapping and the linking of illegal boathouses to the electricity grid, the NGOs said they were still willing to participate on the board.
They said the frame of mind favouring cooperation was shattered by the developments regarding the new Wild Birds Regulations “designed to facilitate hunters and trappers killing of endangered species.
“The proposals coming from the ministry with responsibility for Environment and Climate Change action contradict the very ethos of the said ministry,” they remarked.
The NGOs said that these changes were designed specifically to “aid and abet the most uncivilised and lawless practices of our hunters and trappers”.
The government’s credibility had been rapidly eroded through the conduct of Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Animal Rights Roderick Galdes.
The increasing rate of extinction of several species is a well-established effect of climate change, hence the concern in the COP 21 final document, which lays emphasis on the integrity of all ecosystems and biodiversity protection, the NGOs noted.
“It should therefore come as no sur-prise that, under such circumstances, no respectable NGO would want to occupy a seat on this board,” they said.