Birdlife Malta have announced that at the Ornis Committee meeting yesterday, Ornis members voted unanimously to advise the government not to allow finch trapping in Malta, as per Malta’s EU Accession Treaty negotiations. BirdLife Malta welcomed the Committee’s decision and stated that Malta is finally sending an important message to Brussels that it will honour its Accession Treaty agreements (1).

Bird trapping is not allowed under the Birds Directive (2). The Accession Treaty negotiated by Malta on joining the European Union stipulated a five year phasing out period for the trapping of seven finch species which expired at the end of 2008.

The Committee however chose to allow the continuation of autumn trapping for four other species that was not part of the Accession Treaty agreement. The species that could be trapped next autumn according to the Ornis Committee are Golden Plover and Song Thrush between 10th October and 10th January, and Turtle Dove and Common Quail between 1st September and 31st October.

“Since most of the trappers in Malta target finches, this means that large scale and widespread trapping will not continue. As for the trapping of four other species, we are expecting the Office of the Prime Minister to explain to the Ornis Committee how many trappers will be allowed to trap these four species and the strict conditions that would apply,” said Geoffrey Saliba, BirdLife Malta’s Campaigns Coordinator.

BirdLife Malta representatives at the Ornis meeting on Tuesday argued that it would be advisable to know the details of a derogation to allow trapping of Golden Plover, Song Thrush, Turtle Dove and Common Quail before a vote on these seasons were taken. The Committee voted regardless, based on the Attorney General’s statements that as the European Commission had not yet commented on the trapping of these species the trapping seasons for these species should remain open.

Ornis Committee also agreed upon the autumn hunting season to run for five months from September 1st to January 31st. Furthermore the Committee decided to advise the Office of the Prime Minister to ask the police whether the afternoon hunting ban during the peak raptor migration period in September should continue to help the police to carry out their duties of protecting these birds.

“The afternoon restriction on hunting for the two week period in September is vital to protecting birds of prey, which pass through Malta in large numbers at this time of year. They are very vulnerable to poachers in the afternoon, when they spend hours circling low over the countryside looking for a safe roost site. Our experience in the field over the last two years has shown that this ban has assisted the police to carry out their duties much more effectively and we expect it to continue until the illegal hunting situation in Malta is brought under control,” stated Dr Andre Raine, BirdLife Malta Conservation Manager.

The Maltese Ornis Committee was set up as an advisory body to the government on issues related to the protection of wild birds, hunting and trapping as part of the conditions set by the Accession Treaty Agreement. The committee consists of representatives of BirdLife Malta, FKNK, MEPA as well as three other independent advisers.

Photo: The Ornis Committee’s decision means that wild finches may finally return to breeding in the Maltese countryside. Photo by BirdLife Malta.

1) The relevant section of the Accession Treaty can be seen on page 12 of the Accession Treaty: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:236:0859:0874:EN:PDF

2) The Birds Directive forbids trapping under Article 8.1 in conjunction with Annex IVa. To view the relevant article on trapping in the Birds Directive click on the following link: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31979L0409:EN:HTML