In June last year, I invited Parliamentary Secretary Clint Camilleri to address a major international conference of the Bern Convention and UNEP networks on enforcement against the illegal killing of birds, which I then chaired. He spoke about his commitment towards the eradication of illegal killing, trapping and trade in wild birds.
At the same time that this international event was taking place, the Vittoriosa local council announced its intention to carry out a pigeon cull in the locality. On my advice, the Parliamentary Secretary persuaded the Vittoriosa mayor to cancel the activity, pledging help in assessing alternative methods of control of feral pigeon populations.
Indeed the control of the population of feral pigeons is important to protect public health and property. But there are serious issues with the manner in which these activities were carried out to date. Besides issues of animal welfare, public safety and the dubious aesthetics of shooting pigeons in a densely populated urban locality, the main issue is that without due process being followed at law, the activity contravenes national and EU legislation on the conservation of wild birds.
According to current law, blasting pigeons in the streets without proper authorisation and controls is potentially equivalent to illegal killing of protected species, hunting without a licence during a closed season, hunting using prohibited means, and hunting within 200 metres from an inhabited area. Under Regulation 27 (2) of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations, such offences are punishable with a fine of up to €5,000 and suspension of licence for up to five years.
The draft was shot down at higher levels and has never seen the light of day. And so the present chaotic and unregulated was allowed to persist
Although feral pigeons, which belong to the species Columba livia domestica, are widely regarded as pests capable of causing damage to property and, in cases of extreme infestation, health hazard and nuisance in urban localities, their legal status is the same as that of the nominate species Columba livia, which is listed in Annex II of the Birds Directive, and which is protected alongside all other naturally occurring species of wild birds.
The Birds Directive, and in Malta’s case, Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations, envisage possibility of applying derogations, or exceptions from the general protection regime, to control populations of bird species on the grounds of public health and safety.
This procedure is stipulated in Regulation 9 (1)(a) and proviso thereof, and Regulations 9(2), (3) and (4) of the same regulations. This procedure is impractical, as it involves multiple bureaucratic hurdles such as referral of a proposal to Ornis Committee, the issuance of an Ornis Committee formal recommendation to the minister, the publication of a notice in the Government Gazette, and subsequent controls by the competent authority.
It is therefore hardly a surprise that local councils routinely hold pigeon culling exercises in their localities, without resorting to these procedures. Besides their contra legem nature, such actions are often carried out in a potentially unsafe and insensitive manner which, quite justifiably, triggers public outcry. Moreover, such irregular actions expose Malta to the risk of EU infringement procedures for failure to correctly apply derogations under the Birds Directive.
To address this situation, in October 2016 the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, which I headed, requested the Ornis committee to provide guidance to regularise the procedure. The committee at that time recommended that the government should enact framework regulations which would provide the overall parameters for authorisations for such exercises and would thus obviate the need to refer every request to the committee in accordance with Regulation 9. The latter legislation can be similar in scope to the framework regulations that authorise bird control within the perimeter of the Malta international airport in the interests of air safety.
The unit subsequently prepared a draft legal notice, which aims to provide a framework for the authorisation of measures to control populations of feral pigeons on the grounds of public health. It stipulated a range of parameters that must be considered prior to initiating a request for a permit for a pigeon culling exercise, as well as the procedure for submission of permitting requests and conditions of authorisation.
Among other parameters, the draft law provided that non-lethal methods of dispersal and control, such as the use of falconry species, distress calls, bio-acoustics and other audible devices, as well as measures that restrict access to food sources and availability of nesting sites shall be implemented prior to resorting to the culling, which may only be authorised once all other practical non-lethal means of bird control have been exhausted.
However the draft was shot down at higher levels and has never seen the light of day. And so the present chaotic and unregulated was allowed to persist.
“Investigating” the Vittoriosa “incident”, as announced by the Environment Ministry is not the solution. Instead, concrete steps should be taken to regulate the activity in a proper manner and in line with international best practices and according to the requirements of EU and national law.
Sergei Golovkin is a former head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, secretary of the Malta Ornis Committee, and chair of UN and Council of Europe networks on enforcement against illegal killing of birds. He resigned these positions in March.