Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/408403
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2014 5 TIM DIACONO THE actual details of an agreement between hunters and the govern- ment in 1986 remain elusive. While planning parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon told this newspaper that the agreement fell under the re- sponsibility of parliamentary secre- tary for agriculture and animal rights Roderick Galdes, Galdes referred MaltaToday right back to Falzon. Hunters say that this agreement, signed by former Labour Prime Min- ister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici in the run-up to the 1987 elections, gives them exclusive access to public land in Mizieb and l-Ahrax during the open hunting season. In return, hunters' lobby FKNK was tasked with "administering" the area. On Friday, BirdLife volunteer Nim- rod Mifsud was charged in court with "trespassing" in Mizieb and l-Ahrax. Mifsud was accompanying BBC pre- senter Chris Packham in April this year while the British naturalist at- tempted to film hunters in Mizieb. However, neither Packham nor his British crew were accused of the same charges. FKNK's chief execu- tive Lino Farrugia told the court on Friday that the 1986 agreement ren- dered Mifsud a trespasser. "This agreement does indeed make land in Mizieb and l-Ahrax hunting reserves and prohibits non-hunters from walking through them during the hunting season," Mark Mifsud Bonnici, president of hunting asso- ciation St Hubert's Hunters said. "Hunting is accepted as a princi- ple in the EU and there are a lot of hunting reserves throughout Europe so why should it be an issue here?" he said. "Besides, many bits of public land are inaccessible to the public. People can't enter one of BirdLife's bird sanctuaries just because it is on public land and boats can't enter swimming zones. People should just respect the fact that certain areas are reserved for hunters, and Nimrod Mifsud knew that he was trespass- ing." When asked whether this agree- ment means that only hunters can report illegal hunting activities con- ducted by other hunters, Mifsud Bonnici asserted that that is not a problem. "Although it's not often publicized, many hunters, including myself, do actually report illegal hunting ac- tivities," he said. "I've had my dogs poisoned because I had reported il- legal hunting. Also, a lot of the illegal hunting is carried out by repeat of- fenders with suspended sentences." He went on to criticise Chris Pack- ham for "trying to smear Malta's name" when he had documented bird hunting in Malta in spring this year through a series of video diaries entitled 'Malta-Massacre of Migra- tion'. "England have their own hunting problems, such as of hen harriers and badgers, but Packham came to Malta with a 'holier than thou' at- titude," Mifsud Bonnici said. "How- ever, when I brought England's hunting problems up during a BBC debate with Packham, the presenters immediately cut me off." However, BirdLife have stood by their man and do not believe that this 1986 agreement legally makes Mizieb and l-Ahrax hunting reserves. "It's definitely not a law. All I know about it is that it's an agreement that was announced through a govern- ment press release in 1986," BirdLife Malta's conservation manager Nick Barbara said. "I don't know whether it's still valid. I never saw the agree- ment myself and I don't know any- one who has." Several people, including BirdLife members, walk through Mizieb dur- ing the hunting season without get- ting prosecuted for it. Nimrod Mif- sud himself has been going there for ages, but only got prosecuted when he walked through it with Chris Packham's crew. Moreover, he claimed that the hunters could be committing their own illegalities there. "They have signs throughout Mi- zieb saying that trespassers will be prosecuted," Barbara said. "It is not their land to decide, so these signs are probably illegal." BirdLife, hunters in dispute over contents of mysterious hunting accord News ZZZPNJQJRYPW Renting out your property has never been so attractive. As a property NVMDQXNTB@MQDFHRSDQXNTQOQNODQSXMNV@MCADMDƥSEQNL@MDV@MC QDCTBDCƦ@SQ@SDNEVHSGGNKCHMFS@WNMQDMS@KHMBNLD3@JDSGHR BG@MBDSN@KRNQDFTK@QHRDXNTQS@WONRHSHNMNMO@RSQDMS@KHMBNLD1DFHRSDQ XNTQQDMSDCOQNODQSXMNV@MCADMDƥSEQNLOD@BDNELHMC FOR MORE INFORMATION $5('8&(' 7$;5$7(21 5(17$/,1&20( % OR CALL VISIT Nimrod Mifsud (centre) and BBC presenter Chris Packham confronted by a hunter (left) at Mizieb