The new head of the government’s anti-bird poaching unit is himself a bird trapper.
Richard Lia was appointed head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, who is also a bird trapper, confirmed to Times of Malta.
Mr Lia had previously served as acting head following the resignation of Sergei Golovkin back in 2018.
Sources said Mr Lia had applied for a bird trapping licence while already employed at the WBRU.
Conservationists contacted by Times of Malta pointed out that this was a departure from the practice of having either policy, or environmental protection experts in charge of such units.
“This just goes to show that the first priority will be the interests of hunters and not wildlife protection,” said Birdlife chief executive Mark Sultana, who added that the move was “disheartening”.
The WBRU was set up two months after the Labour Party was voted into power back in 2013 on the promise that the government would work to ensure the sustainability of local hunting and trapping.
It hit the headlines last month after Prime Minister Robert Abela announced his decision to move the unit from the Environment Ministry to the Gozo Ministry.
Conservationists last week took to the courts in a bid to block the handing over of the government’s anti-poaching unit to Mr Camilleri’s ministry.
This just goes to show that the first priority will be the interests of hunters and not wildlife protection
According to the Environment Protection Act, the WBRU falls under the Environment Ministry.
Asked about this, Mr Camilleri said “all necessary amendments are being done”.
The new head of the WBRU authored an undergraduate thesis which included “an investigation of the underlying factors that lead to the shooting of protected birds in Malta”.
His brother Joseph Lia is also employed at the WBRU despite the public service code forbidding siblings from working in the same office.
Asked about this, Mr Camilleri said “when both were hired on the basis of their expertise, there was another head of the unit. There is no violation of the public service code”.
Joseph Lia had been a council member of the hunters’ federation (FKNK) when he was recruited by the WBRU. He resigned after his appointment.
On behalf of the FKNK, he had drawn up a proposal for a derogation (exemption) from the EU Birds Directive to open a finch trapping season.
Once transferred to the bird protection unit, sources said he was tasked with assessing his own proposal on behalf of government.
One WBRU insider said there was a general feeling of apathy within the unit, which had been the case for several months.
Last August, Times of Malta reported how most of the enforcement officers in the unit had departed.
The officers left the WBRU’s Specialist Enforcement Branch – which reports crimes to the police – for other government entities without being replaced.
This had piled pressure on remaining staff who complained of not being able to adequately help monitor the thousands of Maltese hunters. Birdlife Malta has repeatedly lamented about the lack of enforcement which allows hunters to do as they please.