Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1414163
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWS S T R AT E GY ESTABLISHING A DIGITAL STRATEGY FOR THE MALTESE JUSTICE SECTOR Public consultation on the Launch of the Digital Justice Strategy. Project funded by the Structural Reform Support Programme (DG-Reform) with the expert assistance of Cepej, CoE. Submissions are to be sent on the following email: The Ministry for Justice and Governance welcomes feedback and submissions till the 13th October, 2021. publicconsultation.justice@gov.mt SOUTH-WESTERLY winds yesterday favoured a peak in observed migration of birds of prey, with BirdLife Malta and Committee Against Bird Slaugh- ter (CABS) teams witnessing rampant illegal hunting across various locations on Malta and Gozo. Several birds were seen being shot illegally, with injured birds being recovered in the evening and members of the public in- undating BirdLife with calls reporting shooting at birds of prey as they sought places where to roost for the night. Illegal hunting incidents were witnessed across various loca- tions such as Dingli, Victoria Lines, Siġġiewi and Rabat in Malta and Xlendi, Marsalforn, Għasri and Għarb on Gozo, with shooting extending into the evening beyond the 7pm curfew currently in place to protect birds of prey. Target- ed birds included mostly Hon- ey-buzzards but also Eurasian Hobby and Common Kestrel. Calls made for assistance to the Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) saw a single po- lice unit for the whole island of Malta attempting to answer to the ongoing situation, while Gozo Police informed they had no field units and only district police could attend. Three protected species were recovered just yesterday evening in the space of a few hours with a dead Hobby re- covered by a CABS team from Xlendi, an injured Honey-buz- zard found by a hiker in Miżieb, and an injured Common Kes- trel from Santa Luċija. Two other highly-prized spe- cies that made a presence yes- terday included a Black Stork and a Lesser Spotted Eagle, with the latter suspected missing af- ter yesterday's massacre. This follows another four illegally shot birds retrieved the day be- fore, including a Marsh-harrier and a Night-heron recovered by police. "It is inconceivable that dur- ing peak migration of birds of prey, police presence on the ground is weak when up to 11,000 hunters are given a li- cence to hunt during these days," BirdLife CEO Mark Sul- tana said. "It is not a coincidence that such lack of enforcement is always experienced in the run- up to a general election, with political leaders on both sides remaining silent on this issue, while voicing their appease to those that break the law." With the tally of illegally shot protected birds recovered by BirdLife Malta and police now numbering 21 since the start of the autumn hunting season on the 1 September, and indicat- ing another record year for ille- gal hunting casualties, BirdLife Malta and CABS called on the Police Commissioner to jus- tify the weak presence in the field, and appealed for the EPU to up their enforcement effort on both islands from now into October during which time a steady migration of protected species is expected. Both organisations deplored the "melting pot" that had led to a hunting season open dur- ing peak periods, when birds of prey are roosting, thanks to the removal of the 3pm curfew in 2015; as well as thin enforce- ment on the ground, allowing hunters to kill protected spe- cies during such times unde- tected unless watched over by volunteer teams on the ground, and a complete lack of control on taxidermy collections after the amnesties to hunters grant- ed in 1996 and 2003. "To add insult to injury, the Gozo Minister's Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) keeps being requested by hunting organisations to make further amends and loopholes in what should be regulations protect- ing such European species and not hunters' interests," Sultana said. "This all sends a message to the hunting community to continue shooting on protect- ed species unabated, making Malta a cemetery of Europe's birds." An illegally shot Marsh-harrier recovered from Girgenti Peak bird migration greeted with massacre