BirdLife Malta has announced that 53 international volunteers from six different countries will be taking part in this year's Raptor Camp, making this the largest bird monitoring camp organised by BirdLife Malta to date.

The conservation organisation has been holding these international bird monitoring camps since the late 1990s. This year's Camp will be held between September the 8th and 23rd.

Dr Andre Raine, BirdLife Malta Conservation Manager said: "The international response this year exceeded all expectations and maximum capacity was reached early on, forcing BirdLife Malta to declare the camp closed to further applicants. Among the international participants are well known scientists and ornithologists from a range of international conservation organisations who are volunteering their time towards this protection effort."

The main objective of the Raptor Camp in Malta is to collect data on migratory species, particularly birds of prey (raptors), and in this way document the importance of Malta to bird migration. This data will be particularly important in increasing international understanding of migratory routes of a range of species between Europe, where they breed, and Africa, where they rest for the winter.

Malta is on one of the main migratory flyways between Europe and Africa. During the migration period, Malta is a critical stop-over point for migrating species, which use the islands as a resting and refuelling area before continuing on their epic journeys. A recent BirdLife Malta report has shown, using ring recoveries, that birds from at least 47 countries (35 in Europe and 12 in Africa) pass over Malta during migration periods.

The second aim of the Raptor Camp is to act as a deterrent for those hunters who break the law. BirdLife Malta in fact liaises with the Administrative Law Enforcement section (A.L.E.) to monitor and deter such illegal activities. Participants will document all illegal hunting activities and will immediately pass this information on to A.L.E. officers to facilitate their efforts to bring law-breakers to justice.

BirdLife said that a European based organisation called The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) will also be organising a similar camp in Malta in September. "Although this is a completely separate effort than BirdLife's Raptor Camp, we are happy to see that more international and national organisations are becoming active on the issue of illegal hunting in Malta. As long as the activities of other organisations are non-violent and peaceful BirdLife Malta welcomes them all and is ready to cooperate if the need arises." concluded Dr. Raine