Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/345566
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 JULY 2014 8 News BIRDLIFE yesterday said the re- moval of illegal hunting and trap- ping structures from public land and protected natural habitats in Malta and Gozo should be a top priority for the government's envi- ronment directorate, but does not excuse plans to reintroduce envi- ronmentally damaging practices such as finch trapping. On Friday, staff and volunteers from the conservation organisa- tion were among those enthusi- astically helping to dismantle the illegal hunting and trapping hides inside Majjistral Nature and His- tory Park. While BirdLife praised this week's initiative and the collaboration of hunting federation FKNK and the Wild Birds Regulations Unit, it accused the government of piggy- backing on the activity in an at- tempt to green paint its plans to lift the ban on finch trapping. "It is highly disingenuous of the government to try to spin the fact that finally NGOs have been given permission to try to undo some of the damage done by decades of hunting and trapping and use it to claim that their plans to reintro- duce environmentally damaging practices such as finch trapping are somehow supporting conservation efforts," BirdLife Malta's executive director Steve Micklewright said. He added that the NGO was de- lighted to finally be able to help the Majjistral Park to remove these structures from the ecologically sensitive protected areas where they were illegally built. "Hopefully this will be the first of many such activities to undo the damage done by hundreds of permanent hunting and trapping structures that have been illegally built in protected sites and on pub- lic land around the islands." BirdLife Malta has submitted re- ports to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority document- ing hundreds of such structures built without planning permission or consideration of their impact on the environment in ecologically sensitive and protected Natura 2000 areas. "Almost every coastal cliff-top area around the islands is dotted with these illegal structures built on rare xaghri, maquis and garigue habitats," BirdLife's Conserva- tion and Policy Officer, Christian Debono said. Debono added that it is important to recognise that the preparation of the trapping sites themselves is also highly destructive: involving the clearing of all vegetation, level- ling of ground, often by importing hardcore/substrate, spraying with poisons/herbicides, and burning. "All of this leaves barren scars in the natural landscape that can take decades to properly recover." He explained that trapping sites that were abandoned after the ban came into force in 2009 can still be distinguished from several kilome- tres away thanks to the absence of established plants that have still not been able to re-colonise. "As well as removing illegal structures built for hunting and trapping, there is a great need for reparation/restorative work to help undo the damage done to natural sites throughout the island when sites were being prepared for trap- ping." Moreover, the successful proposal for the removal of these structures from Majjistral Park offers hope that environmental reparations will at last be undertaken at other similarly afflicted sites, such as Ah- rax tal-Mellieha and Ghar Lapsi, he added. "For decades hunters have been allowed to build illegal structures on the public land of Mizieb with- out any response from the authori- ties. Perhaps now we might see MEPA take the legally prescribed steps to enforce planning regula- tions by demanding the removal of these structures." sĂůůĞƩĂ͕DĂůƚĂ͛ƐĂƌŽƋƵĞĂƉŝƚĂůŝƚLJĂŶĚ ĂhE^KtŽƌůĚ,ĞƌŝƚĂŐĞ^ŝƚĞ͕ŚŽƐƚƐƚŚĞƚŚŝƌĚ ĞĚŝƟŽŶŽĨƚŚŝƐƵŶŝƋƵĞďĂƌŽƋƵĞŵƵƐŝĐĨĞƐƟǀĂůŝŶŝƚƐ dĞĂƚƌƵDĂŶŽĞů͕ďĂƌŽƋƵĞĐŚƵƌĐŚĞƐĂŶĚƉĂůĂĐĞƐ 10 th - 24 th January 2015 ǁǁǁ͘ǀĂůůĞƩĂďĂƌŽƋƵĞĨĞƐƟǀĂů͘ĐŽŵ͘ŵƚ KE>/EKKŝƐĂ ŝĞ<ƂůŶĞƌŬĂĚĞŵŝĞĐŚŽŝƌĂŶĚŽƌĐŚĞƐƚƌĂĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJDŝĐŚĂĞůůĞdžĂŶĚĞƌtŝůůĞŶƐ ŵLJƚƌŽ^ƵŬŚŽǀŝĞŶŬŽ ŶƐĞŵďůĞsŝůůĂŶĐŝĐŽĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJWĞƚĞƌWŽŶƚǀŝŬ ƵƌŽƉĞĂŶhŶŝŽŶĂƌŽƋƵĞKƌĐŚĞƐƚƌĂ;hKͿĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJ>ĂƌƐhůƌŝŬDŽƌƚĞŶƐĞŶ :ŽĂŶŶĞĂŵŝůůĞƌŝ >ĂĂƉƉĞůůĂDĞĚŝƚĞƌƌĂŶĞĂ͕ƚŚĞEĂŵƵƌŚĂŵďĞƌŚŽŝƌǁŝƚŚ>ĞŽŶĂƌĚŽ'ĂƌĐŝĂůĂƌĐŽŶ >͛ĐŚĞƌŽŶŶƐĞŵďůĞĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJ&ƌĂŶĐŽŝƐ:ŽƵďĞƌƚĂŝůůĞƚ >ĞŽŶĐĞƌƚ^ƉŝƌŝƚƵĞůĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJ,ĞƌǀĠEŝƋƵĞƚ DĂůƚĂWŚŝůŚĂƌŵŽŶŝĐKƌĐŚĞƐƚƌĂĂŶĚZĞďĞĐĐĂ,ĂůůĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJWĞƚĞƌ^ƚĂƌŬ EĞĚĞƌůĂŶĚƐ<ĂŵĞƌŬŽŽƌ KƌĐŚĞƐƚƌĂŽĨƚŚĞŐĞŽĨŶůŝŐŚƚĞŶŵĞŶƚĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJ^ƚĞǀĞŶĞǀŝŶĞ WĂƐƐĂĐĂŐůŝĂŶƐĞŵďůĞ ^ŝŐŝƐǁĂůĚ<ƵŝũŬĞŶ dŚĞ<ŝŶŐ͛ƐŽŶƐŽƌƚǁŝƚŚĐŽƵŶƚĞƌƚĞŶŽƌ/ĞƐƚLJŶĂǀŝĞƐĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚďLJZŽďĞƌƚ<ŝŶŐ sĂůůĞƩĂ/ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂůĂƌŽƋƵĞŶƐĞŵďůĞ;s/Ϳ Teatru Manoel is one of the top 15 most spectacular theatres in the world – CNN Travel 0825. Teatru - Baroque Festival Advert - 25x4 - English b/w.indd 1 02/07/2014 12:31 BirdLife urges priority for removal of hunting, trapping hides