As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday 17 November 2017

Malta in hot water over trapping of protected birds


 Nov 9, 2017

Malta opened its wild bird trapping season in October, disregarding its EU accession promise to outlaw the practice and a pending case at the European Court of Justice.

The tradition of trapping wild songbirds to keep in captivity is deeply rooted in Maltese society. Trappers use live decoys to attract migrating finches, which are highly prized for their song, to their nets.

But the controversial trapping practice has landed Malta in hot water with environmental NGOs and the EU courts. Not only are finches protected under EU law – like all wild birds – but the use of nets is not a permitted method of capture.

After banning the practice in 2009 to respect the EU’s Birds Directive and uphold a promise it made before joining the EU in 2004, Malta backtracked in 2013. Courting favour with trappers, the newly-elected Labour government reopened the trapping season using a derogation supporters say is justified by the small scale of the activity.

“The Birds Directive is designed to allow these culturally important small-scale traditional hunting activities,” said Ludwig Willnegger, secretary-general of the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE).


No comments:

Post a Comment