Bast/bust/best in Europe update: The only international coverage we’re getting nowadays is for selling passports, shooting migratory birds and a corrupt ex EU Commissioner
Published:
April 27, 2014 at 1:03pm
The Guardian, on Easter Sunday (and what a photograph) and The Daily Mail yesterday:
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/20/conservationists-marksmen-malta-bird-hunt
Natalino Fenech posted a comment to this Guardian article. I think it deserves to be reproduced:
[by] Natalino Fenech
20 April 2014 9:21pm
As someone who campaigned vigorously in favour of conservation of birds and the environment in Malta, I find the focus on hunting in Malta now slightly misplaced. Of course spring hunting is wrong and one can also raise legitimate questions about the shooting of any migratory bird.
But Malta is no longer the black spot it was 15 or even 10 years ago. There are still a considerable amount of illegalities taking place, especially when rare birds occur. And the number if illegalities, no matter how small they may be, can never be tolerated. But they are nothing compared to what used to happen just a few years ago and one should recognise the progress that has been made if one hopes to advance further. By lumping everyone in the same basket, one would be penalizing those who no longer shoot whatever flies their way. And many Maltese hunters now no longer shoot whatever flies within or beyond their range as most of them did a few years ago.
The caption under the photo on this article is very misleading. Caged birds were used to attract finches to trapping sites and finches were kept as songbirds and were not eaten locally. I am not saying this because I agree with bird trapping, but for the sake of accuracy. Finches were only caught to be eaten about a hundred years ago.
It is also incorrect to say that “the Maltese authorities obtain an exemption each year” to be able to allow spring hunting. Spring hunting in Malta is allowed because of a decision by the European Court of Justice, which declared that spring hunting could take place under stringent conditions because there was no other alternative solution, because the number of turtle doves and quail shot in autumn was “very small”, so hunters had to have an alternative.
Whether one agrees with such a judgement and whether the court reached a correct decision or not, merits a story in its own right, mainly because of the figures of hunted birds presented to the courts. Whether is it right or not to kill 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quails in spring also merits debate.
But for one to keep harping that Malta is the black spot for migrants in the Mediterranean is factually incorrect and an insult to those of us who strove for protection before it became fashionable to be green and when the going for protectionists was really tough.
For those who think I am a hunting apologist, may I add that in 1992 I penned the book Fatal Flight, the Maltese obsession with killing birds. The book was published in the UK. At that time it was estimated that up to 3 million birds were shot and another 3 million trapped. Trapping has been outlawed for quite some time now and the number of hunters had decreased by a third. A lot of practices described in that book have faded as they became illegal, such as hunting from sea craft, which used to lead to killing of thousands birds at sea before they reached our shores at all times of the year.
I also did my PhD on the subject at Durham University and more recently I wrote the book A Complete Guide to the Birds of Malta. The book is not just an ornithological account but also looks at all that has to do with birds and man in Malta, from birds in history, language and art to hunting, conservation and the politics of conservation. Birdwatch Magazine declared the book as one of the best ten bird books that were reviewed in 2010.
Do we still have illegalities? Yes we do. But there is also more enforcement and penalties are very stiff. In my humble opinion, illegalities will continue to take place until alternatives are found for those whose lives are bonded with birds.
A cursory look at history of conservation anywhere shows that the roots of pioneers in conservations were hunters. Our hunters and trappers too should be given the opportunity to participate in meaningful conservation projects that keep them close to birds without harming them. Simply hitting them on the head and expecting them to change, won’t do the trick. History has shown it does not work and unless we think out of the box, we will continue to bemoan the fate of the poor migrant that ends up shot by someone who calls himself a hunter.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2614134/Police-hold-BBC-wildlife-presenter-Chris-Packham-targets-bird-hunters-Med-taking-senseless-slaughter.html
Chris Packham should have interviewed Cyrus Engererer, who can campaign for gay adoption and against a referendum on spring hunting at one go.
44,000 signatures are an omen that Busuttil realise where the numbers are. And if Cacopardo, Saviour et al have to cry hypocrite, it only means their territory’s at stake.
What a lovely word: tradition.
There used to be a tradition to burn witches at the stake, for instance, but the cherished habit was discontinued some time ago.
Even the law bowed to tradition: if a husband found his wife cuckolding him in flagrante, he could kill her and her lover and get off with a maximum of six months imprisonment.
That tradition of honour killing was struck off the statute book too.
Not all traditions are worth preserving, Mr. Perici Calascione.
Jien kontra il-kacca illegali u fir-rebbiegha biss mhux kontra l-kacca.
L-barranin ahjar jiddefendu l-ewwel dawk il-miljuni ta’ trabi li qed joqtlu bl-abort f’pajjizhom, imbaghad ikollom iktar nies biex jiddefendu ukoll l-annimali.
Nghixu f’dinja fejn l-annimal sar iktar ta valur mill-bniedem.
Ghax joqtlu annimal iqajmu id-dinja (mhux nghid li m’ghandhomx jiggieldu ghalihom – tifmux hazin) imma imbghad miljuni ta trabi jinqatlu innocentament f’guf ommom ma tismax hoss. U nghidu li ghamilna il-progress.
What about Arriva!
Fantastic advert for Foreign Direct Investment. Shafting a multinational company in Malta. Well DONE MLP!
Is there a competition between Peter Paul Policeman and the Ministry of Tourism to see who can best endanger jobs and investment in the tourism industry?
Most read on the BBC News right now:
Chris Packham in UK after questioning by Malta police
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27177582
Who the hell is Sergei Golovkin ? So if a foreigner speaks out against spring hunting it’s ‘foreign interference’ but if he speaks in favour , he’s accepted .
That would be due to confirmation bias.
http://www.inewsmalta.com/dart/20140427-akbar-ma-jkun-il-pene-akbar-ans-ta-infedelt
Jo should move quick and legalize cannabis, so he can momentarily upstage all that bad publicity on the headlines of those European newspapers.