Results published today from spring migration and anti-poaching camps run by the Maltese and Italian BirdLife partners, BirdLife Malta and LIPU-BirdLife Italy, revealed that illegal hunting is still a significant problem on the Mediterranean portion of the European-African migratory flyway.

BirdLife Malta’s Spring Watch camp in April recorded 2,699 shots during a two week period, with 596 shots recorded on the 23rd April alone. While illegal hunting incidents declined by around 11% compared to the previous year, the problem was still widespread, particularly in the south of Malta and in areas where birds of prey concentrated in the late afternoon. LIPU’s Italian camp on the Reggio Calabria side of the Straits of Messina had three poachers denounced by the Italian wildlife crime unit, the Corpo Forestale. LIPU also ran camps in the four Sicilian islands of Pantelleria, Marettimo, Panarea and Ustica to record raptor’s spring migration.

“The results of these camps highlight the seriousness of illegal hunting in Malta, with the Spring Watch camp recording a high number of shots. Also in Reggio Di Calabria the Italian camp registered a lot of shots, in an area long considered to be one of Italy’s most notorious illegal hunting black spots.” said Dr Andre Raine, BirdLife Malta Conservation Manager.

Maltese Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi, recently answering a question by a local reporter with regards to setting up a wild life crime unit in Malta, stated that “We don’t need a special branch. It’s not like we have a disastrous situation.” (1)

“Dr Gonzi is clearly trying to undermine the true scale of illegal hunting in Malta by dismissing our calls for a wild life crime unit, in spite of the fact that the situation in terms of bird conservation is disastrous in the Maltese islands. Malta continues to be the only country in Europe without a pair of breeding birds of prey, including the locally extinct Maltese (Peregrine) falcon, the last pair of which was shot at Ta’Cenc in 1982″ continued Dr. Raine.

The Italian and Maltese conservation camps also focused on the importance of raptor migration over the Mediterranean Sea. In Italy and the four Sicilian islands 17 different species of raptor (birds of prey) were recorded during the camps, the majority of which were Honey-buzzards. In Malta, 81 migratory species, including 12 species of raptor, were recorded. Significant numbers of Marsh and Montagu’s Harriers (2) were counted, as well as several rare or globally threatened species, such as Lesser Kestrel, listed as Vulnerable on the Global IUCN Red List, and Pallid Harrier, classified as Endangered on the European IUCN Red List. These results highlight the importance of the Messina Straights and the Mediterranean islands like Malta for raptor migration.

“The Italian wildlife Crime unit, the Corpo Forestale, is fundamental for the protection of migratory birds. We strongly believe that Maltese Government should constitute a specific operational unit to prevent and repress the alarming level of poaching in the country and to preserve our migratory birds.” said Claudio Celada, Head of Nature Conservation Department of LIPU’s BirdLife Italy.

Every spring wild birds migrate from their African wintering grounds to their European breeding grounds. The EU Birds Directive strictly forbids spring hunting in order to allow wild birds to breed and replenish their numbers while shooting of protected species including all raptor species are banned through out the year.

“Despite this, poachers still focus their sights on these protected birds and can cause untold conservation damage on key focal points like in Italy and Malta. It is about time that the Maltese and Italian authorities deal with this international conservation problem in the same way that Sicily was dealt with in the past. Only then will the Mediterranean skies finally be safe for our migratory birds” concluded both conservation organisations.

Photo above shows a Kestrel, which was found in Mizzieb, which is the latest victim of illegal hunting in Malta. This is the 24th shot protected bird received by BirdLife Malta alone this year and would probably breed in Malta if it was given a chance. Malta is the only European country without a breeding pair of raptors. Photo by Geoffrey Saliba.

NOTES:

1) On the 20th of May the Malta Independent ran an article quoting Dr. Gonzi’s reply to a question by a journalist. To view the article please click on:

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=88242

2) Honey Buzzards, Marsh Harriers and Montagu’s Harriers are listed under Annex 1 of the Birds Directive, affording them the highest level of legal protection possible.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31979L0409:EN:HTML