BirdLife insists new legal amendments will weaken hunting regulations

BirdLife Malta has said that the government’s statement claiming that the legal amendments currently open for public consultation will ‘strengthen the regulations’ for the conservation of wild birds, fails to substantiate how the amendments are meant to do so.

“We’ve had a read through the government’s reaction as reported on the DOI website, where in a nutshell the government’s statement says that the proposed amendments strengthen rather than weaken the Conservation of Wild Bird Regulations – a totally opposite view to the one we communicated yesterday,” BirdLife said, referring to a press conference the group held yesterday.

BirdLife Malta reiterated its willingness to sit down and discuss with all stake holders in particular WBRU and government to assist in making the Conservation of Wild Bird Regulations stronger.

In their press conference, BirdLife Malta said that under the proposed amendments, people found to be in possession of protected birds will be subjected to lower fines, with a proposed legal notice distinguishing between a person caught red-handed shooting at a protected bird and another simply found in possession of such a bird.

“This is yet another scandalous attempt to weaken the strength of those who are responsible in enforcing the law,” BirdLife Malta chief executive officer Mark Sultana said yesterday.

Sultana also added that the proposed legal notice will also allow people to be in possession of any non-EU bird, irrespective of its protection status in its country origin.

In its statement in reaction, the government said that the amendments “ensure sustained efforts to curb illegal possession of all protected birds,” and that contrary to what was stated, the proposed amendments do not involve any reduction in any penalty for illegal possession of any protected bird.

“The present penalties, which are amongst the harshest in Europe, will remain in force and are not affected by the amendments,” the statement reads.

“Unfortunately the statement by government lacks to substantiate this claim that the amendments strengthen the regulations, and we will await more technical feedback from the Wild Birds Regulation Unit,” BirdLife added.

BirdLife also said that they had submitted a detailed point by point analysis of the amendments proposed to, clearly explain the suggestions to Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes as well as the WBRU.

“We likewise expect a detailed explanation of how actually their amendments improve the legislation – something we fail to see in the amendments they propose,” they added.