Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1228170
2 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 APRIL 2020 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE Cabinet has requested an urgent meeting of the Ornis Com- mittee, the consultative commit- tee responsible for recommending whether Malta should derogate from the EU's ban spring hunting. Conservationists BirdLife are worried the move is intended at rubber-stamping a decision to open the season in April, giving hunters the run of the country- side at a time when law enforce- ment is occupied by the corona- virus crisis. "Any decision by Prime Minister Robert Abela to consider opening this year's spring hunting season for one species, the Quail, would be the most irresponsible act ev- er," BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana said. "Whilst the general public is be- ing asked to stay at home in view of the global threat posed by the COVID-19 virus – with stricter rules issued just yesterday an- nouncing that groups of four or more people caught in public will now be fined…" Sultana said a derogation from the EU's ban on spring hunting forces Malta to have seven po- lice officers or monitors for every 1,000 hunters. "In view of the fact that the police and security forces are stretched and involved in activities related to the COVID-19 crisis, it would not only be impossible for the po- lice to enforce the law, but also a blatant lack of responsibility on the part of the Government if the season had to be opened now," Sultana said. BirdLife has already reported that hunters and trappers are openly flouting the law, going out hunting when this is prohibited at this time of the year, and many active trapping sites are illegally trapping many songbirds, when trapping in spring has been illegal for the last decade or so. Just this weekend BirdLife Mal- ta received another seven illegally shot protected birds – three Com- mon Kestrels and four Marsh Harriers. All these were shot down between Friday and yesterday, and were confirmed as illegal hunting casualties by the government vet- erinarian. "BirdLife Malta calls on the Prime Minister to show moral courage and take decisions in the general interest of the country. At this juncture, BirdLife Malta understands that the health of the country is a priority, but it cannot accept that the protection of na- ture takes the back-burner. "The hunting and trapping lob- by cannot continue to hold politi- cians at ransom and BirdLife Mal- ta calls on the Prime Minister to take a clear and unequivocal stand in favour of all communities and nature in general." BirdLife is also insisting it is il- legal for Abela to have placed the Ornis Committee, the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) and the Conservation of Wild Birds Reg- ulations under Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri, and not the min- ister responsible for the environ- ment. "According to Malta's environ- mental laws, minister Camilleri does not have the legal remit to take decisions on hunting and trapping. We need to take action. The decision or consideration of opening the spring hunting sea- son will take us back to the middle ages. "BirdLife Malta is calling on the Prime Minister to openly state that the spring hunting season in 2020 will not be opened because the delicate situation we're in to- day calls for restraint and respon- sibility," Sultana said. The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) joined BirdLife's, saying that without strict supervision of police, they feared a sharp increase in hunt- ing-related illegalities such as shooting protected species or us- ing forbidden electronic lures. CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows said the last weeks had shown that poachers have al- ready taken advantage of reduced police resources. Since 9 March CABS volunteers and staff wit- nessed, documented and report- ed 18 cases of illegal trapping and two cases of hunting during the closed season. "Illegal bird trap- ping is rampant and it's obvious that the poachers know that the police have other priorities now. Opening the hunting season would only worsen this situation," Burrows said. CABS Press Officer Axel Hirschfeld criticised hunting or- ganisation FKNK for their recent and repeated calls on the govern- ment to lift the spring hunting ban for Turtle Doves. "This bird is on the way to ex- tinction. By requesting a spring hunting season for it FKNK shows once again that they spit on re- sponsible hunting and conserva- tion and instead are solely focused on facilitating maximum shooting pleasure for their members." In the last 25 years Turtle Dove populations have declined by more than 80% in most Europe- an countries. In its International Single Species Action Plan for the conservation of the Turtle Dove, the European Commission has listed illegal hunting and trapping in spring as one of the three main threats to the survival of the spe- cies. Alternattiva Demokratika joined Birdlife and CABS in insisting that the opening of the spring hunting season was uncalled for. "Hunters should be advised to stay indoors like the rest of us in conformity with the health authorities' in- structions," AD chairperson Car- mel Cacopardo said. "It should be also borne in mind that the Police are not in a posi- tion to carry out patrols to ensure adequate enforcement as is very evident from the multiple cases of illegal hunting reported in the past days." Despite COVID-19 fears, Cabinet considers allowing spring hunting season A marsh harrier shot down at Mtarfa and Dwejra KARL AZZOPARDI BRITISH fugitive Christopher Guest More Jr has been extra- dited to the United Kingdom in an operation which involved the police, the correctional services agency and the armed forces. The police said yesrerday that the operation, carried out on Sunday, involved the transfer of Guest More from the Cor- radino Correctional Facility to Malta International Airport. "The British authorities sent an aircraft to Malta specifical- ly for this extraditable person who was considered as one of the most wanted persons in Europe and the United King- dom," the police said in a state- memt. Guest More had been arrest- ed by the Maltese police on 6 June 2019, after a European ar- rest warrant was issued. Guest More, who is want- ed by the UK authorities for the murder of cannabis farm owner Brian Waters in June 2003, is facing a possible life sentence for his part in the murder. Three other men John Wilson, 69, James Raven, 60, and Otis Matthews, 41, are all serving life sentences for the murder. Brian Waters was tortured and beaten to death in front of his two adult children, who were forced to watch the mur- der at gunpoint. Together with the other men, Guest More is accused of launching the at- tack at the remote property in order to demand money. Guest More had been on Eu- rope's most wanted list since the murder. Malta extradites fugitive in cannabis farmer's murder Christopher Guest More has been extradited to the UK