Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/204636
13 Interview maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2013 With the European Commission washing its hands of the spring hunting issue and local political parties held hostage to hunters, Birdlife director Steve Micklewright argues that it it now falls to the ordinary voter to make his voice heard PHOTOGRAPHY BY AUDREY LIENARD and up to bullies that previous investment by Birdlife in education (the NGO has run individual school programmes in the past, and opens its bird sanctuaries to visits by schoolchildren, etc) may have been instrumental in changing public perceptions. "I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but perceptions are definitely changing. I would expect that there are other reasons for this, though. Surveys conducted on the issue of spring hunting have shown that younger people are likelier to oppose spring hunting; but the same surveys also register opposition in all categories and across all age groups. I think that, for whatever reason, people are becoming more aware: not just about bidlife or conservation issues, but also of their own rights as individuals. This issue is not just about birds. It is also about basic rights, such as the right to enjoy the countryside, to be close to nature, and so on. In the past, people from urban areas may not have visited the countryside very frequently; they might not have been aware of what was going on. Now that is changing. The same people may still not visit the countryside often, but they are now more concerned about the situation than ever before." This development cannot be put down to any single educational campaign. "If you ask me, it goes deeper than education. Sometimes all it takes is for people to look closely at themselves and realise that things they had accepted in the past were not, in fact, acceptable. The realised that rights – the rights of birds, but also their own rights – were being taken away by a minority that always uses disproprtionate power to get its way. This referendum will give them the chance to make a stand against this injustice." Anyone wishing to add his signature to call for a referendum should email to: info@mediatoday.com.mt