Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/667669
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 APRIL 2016 News 13 ONE YEAR ON Hunting referendum: the fine line between victory and defeat JURGEN BALZAN A year has passed since the elec- torate was called upon to decide whether spring hunting should be abolished once and for all but the hunters' razor-thin victory is still reverberating. On 11 April, 2015, Malta was just 2,000 votes short of abrogat- ing spring hunting, which both major parties wanted to maintain. The narrow loss was a bitter defeat for environmentalists and activists who campaigned for the abolition of hunting, yet it sig- nalled a new awakening within civil society and sent a warning sign to the political establish- ment. For a few weeks after the refer- endum, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat cut the spring hunting season short following reports of illegal hunting. Then came the largest ever en- vironmental protest organised by civil society led by Front Harsien ODZ which forced government into partially backtracking by downscaling the take up of ODZ land in Zonqor for a private edu- cational institution, from 90,000 to 18,000 square metres. Following the referendum the balance tipped on the side of the environmentalists when it came to public mobilisation and sym- pathy, but ultimately decisions are still taken by a political estab- lishment which cannot ignore the hunting lobby's victory and its of- ten inflated electoral muscle. Despite their exuberance at their victory, the slim nature of the hunters' victory dealt a blow to the political influence of the hunting lobby. In fact rather than having a carte blanche, hunters have more than ever before found themselves at the mercy of Joseph Muscat and his political calculations. Ultimately, the responsibility of whether to actually open the spring season or not still remains in the hands of the government. The result also conditioned Muscat, who is under increased pressure from civil society and the wider electorate to ensure that flagrant abuse is no longer toler- ated as it was in the past. In the aftermath of the result, Muscat realised that his signifi- cant incursions during the refer- endum campaign helped secure the 'yes' victory. This in turn heaped more pres- sure on Muscat as he runs the risk of losing the trust of a substantial part of his electorate, which de- spises the antics and arrogance the hunting lobby is often associ- ated with, if he fails to stop abuse. Muscat's decisive action to cut the season short in 2015 after hunters shot down a kestrel in the grounds of a private school has also set a precedent. At the first sign of "flagrant" abuse, Muscat will now be expect- ed to take similar action and stop the season. Otherwise he will be once again accused of being held to ransom by the hunting lobby. A second referendum? BirdLife Malta has not ruled out organising a second referendum against spring hunting if the gov- ernment refuses to ban it. Last month, BirdLife president Darryl Grima said that given that scientific reports are being ignored, numbers are reported incorrectly and the government is taking deci- sions based on political expediency, "we may call another referendum". Given the current political ten- sions and the painstaking process of collecting signatures to hold a ref- erendum, this is highly improbable. But BirdLife insists that the refer- endum result did not give this and future governments a licence to au- tomatically open the spring hunting season every year. Birdlife demands 'zero tolerance' Reminding Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of the illegalities which took place during last year's spring hunt- ing season, Birdlife demanded a "ze- ro tolerance" policy. In a letter sent to Muscat, Birdlife CEO Mark Sultana pointed out that several protected birds have been shot down in recent weeks and re- minding Muscat of his prompt deci- sion to close down last year's season, he wrote "we ask you to once again impose a zero tolerance policy on illegal hunting and if any illegalities do take place the season should be closed immediately." Sultana also expressed his con- cerns about government's decision to allow hunting between 17 and 30 April, especially since turtle doves have been classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The 2016 spring hunting season, which starts today, is three days shorter than the one announced last year and is subject to special meas- ures in a bid to reduce the impact on turtle dove and quail numbers of the derogation from the EU ban on spring hunting. Unsurprisingly, BirdLife Malta is disappointed with the decision to open another spring hunting season on turtle doves, with the NGO insist- ing that the government had docu- ments that indicate that this should not take place anymore. The season will be open during a two-week period between 17 and 30 April, a reduction of seven days from the maximum of three weeks allowed under the Framework Regu- lations. The national spring quota for tur- tle dove has been reduced from the maximum of 11,000 birds to just 5,000 birds. Turtle dove numbers across the globe have fallen by 30% in 15 years and the birds now face the same extinction threat as the African el- ephant and lion. Sultana said that the numbers of birds killed and declared by hunters are far from the truth, and measures to be sure on the quotas declared are "fictitious and hard to enforce." "Spring hunting is unsustainable and killing birds on their last step from their breeding grounds goes against the values of conservation. Malta remains the only country in the European Union to allow hunt- ing of turtle dove in spring," Sultana said following the announcement of the new season. But the hunters' federation (FKNK) said there appeared to be a discrep- ancy about the number of turtle dove that BirdLife International had given the International Union for the Con- servation of Nature, compared to the figures which EU member states re- ported to the European Commission. Reiterating its proposal for a con- servation project for turtle dove, FKNK argued that any restriction which should have been made to the hunting derogation was made last year. The 5,000 national quota for quail, as well as the individual daily bag limit of two birds and the maximum season's bag limit per hunter of four birds, will remain unchanged. The autumn hunting season for turtle dove will be reduced from five months (previously between 1 Sep- tember and 31 January of the follow- ing year) to the month of September only. This one month autumn hunt- ing season for turtle dove will be sub- ject to the maximum national quota of 7,000 birds. Only those persons who are is- sued with a Special Spring Hunting Licence for 2016 will be permitted to hunt turtle dove and quail during this two week spring season. The government said that the limited spring hunting season will be sub- ject to stringent enforcement, and any non-compliance with applicable conditions and regulations will not be tolerated. The veteran FKNK leader Lino Farrugia made a smart move not to appear as the face of the hunting campaign, allowing for lawyer Kathleen Grima to take centre-stage The No campaign's near victory dealt a blow to the political influence of the hunting lobby which during the campaign projected a softer image thanks to lawyer Kathleen Grima (below)