FKNK files judicial protest against Lands Authority over ‘gated’ BirdLife bird reserves

Hunting organisation FKNK calls out BirdLife’s challenge to mechanism used by Lands Authority to grant it guardianship of woodlands

The Miżieb woodland is managed by the FKNK after a guardianship agreement was signed between the hunting organisation and government
The Miżieb woodland is managed by the FKNK after a guardianship agreement was signed between the hunting organisation and government

Hunting organisation FKNK has called on the Lands Authority not to enter into new agreements with BirdLife Malta over the Għadira and Simar nature reserves.

In a judicial protest filed on Tuesday, FKNK said its action was spurred by court cases filed by BirdLife and other NGOs challenging the procedure by which the authority granted management rights over the Miżieb and Aħrax woodlands to the hunting organisation.

The Lands Authority granted the guardianship of the two woodlands to the FKNK in a deed secretly signed between the government and the organisation in October last year. The two sprawling sites are traditional hunting grounds but also popular as recreational areas.

The procedure is being challenged by BirdLife and other NGOs but FKNK is now claiming that the same mechanism used in its regard is the same one that will be adopted by the authority when it comes to renew agreements with the bird conservation group.

BirdLife manages the reserves at Għadira and Simar in Xemxija.

FKNK said public access to the Miżieb and Aħrax hunting reserves is guaranteed in contrast to the two reserves managed by BirdLife, which are gated.

The Court of Appeal last month ruled that a number of environmental NGOs led by BirdLife Malta have every right to challenge the Lands Authority’s decision to grant guardianship of the Miżieb and Aħrax woodlands to the FKNK.

On 21 January this year, the Tribunal for Administrative Review had decided that BirdLife Malta, Moviment Graffitti, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Friends of the Earth (Malta), Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar and Prof. Edward Mallia did not have juridical interest in the case, and as such they do not qualify as aggrieved parties with the right to challenge the decision or take legal action in court.

Legal proceedings in this regard had been initiated at the end of October 2020, three days before the sit-down protest held in front of Castille over the signing of the FKNK deal.