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Julian Manduca
Bird protection organisation BirdLife is hoping that a visit to Malta by an EU team will lead to the abolition of hunting and trapping in spring. The NGO’s president Joe Mangion told MaltaToday the organisation has stood for a “full transposition and implementation” of the EU’s Birds Directive, which effectively means no hunting in the pre-nuptial or breeding seasons, in spring.
The EU has accepted Malta’s demand for a transition period for the trapping of seven species of finches until December 2008. Mangion said the EU has made it clear that this trapping should not be carried out during the pre-nuptial or breeding seasons of these finches: “No other trapping should be allowed.”
The visit takes place this week between Wednesday and Thursday and the EU team will be made up of Commission officials from the nature protection unit at the Environment directorate general, headed by the head of the Unit Nicholas Hanley.
An EU spokesperson said the purpose of the visit is to meet officials from the Environment Ministry and various interest groups, including hunters and environmental NGOs. The team will then be reviewing the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives.
“The usual issues like hunting, the Maltese derogation for spring hunting and designation of Natura 2000 areas,” are on the agenda, the spokesperson said.
The Commission’s team will be going on site to see where hunting and trapping takes place, the spokesperson said, although BirdLife’s Joe Mangion was not informed of this.
“Until now we are not aware of a possibility of taking the officials in the countryside and explain to them the situation of hunting and trapping, although we are aware that they have requested the government to visit candidate Special Protection Areas and Natura 2000 sites or Special Areas of Conservation,” Mangion said.
The EU spokesperson told MaltaToday the Commission has received many letters about the hunting issue in Malta, and the European Parliament is also interested in the issue. “The Commission is indeed involved in the hunting issue in Malta, as part of its role to ensure that EU law is correctly applied throughout the Union.”
julian@newsworksltd.com
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