A British Socialist MEP has drawn the attention of the European Commission to a UK report containing damaging claims about illegal hunting and trapping in Malta, just days before a Commission delegation is due to arrive on the island to assess the situation.
Robert Evans referred to a report by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), entitled Illegal Hunting Of Birds In Several Countries In Southern Europe and asked the Commission to take measures to halt such illegal practices in all the countries.
He said these countries must ensure that EU legislation is respected to "prevent the slaughter of protected species".
The RSPB is considered to be one of Europe's largest wildlife conservation charities with more than a million members. Its report claims that Malta is one of the most outstanding countries when it comes to the killing of birds.
The report says that "around a thousand million birds are killed every year in the Mediterranean, including about 100,000 birds of prey. These totals may be more than 15 per cent of the total number that spend the winter in or migrate to that area.
"The proportion killed could be much higher for species that are particularly prized by certain hunters, such as birds of prey and golden orioles. Evidence suggests that the largest numbers of birds are killed in southern France, northern Italy, Iberia, Malta and Cyprus".
The report gives details of the specific situation in Malta, alleging that two to three million birds are shot or trapped here each year.
"As a result of uncontrolled shooting, the number of species breeding in Malta has declined from 32 in 1916 to about 16 today", the report claims.
RSPB said it is particularly concerned about a number of illegal hunting activities taking place in Malta and points out that protected species are shot by hunters to be stuffed for display purposes.
"These include birds of prey, such as the globally threatened lesser kestrel, flamingos and herons. In 2003, an amnesty was granted by the government for illegally shot stuffed birds and nearly 270,000 birds were registered even though only 2,589 hunters submitted their lists."
The report further claims that "small protected species, such as swallows, are shot for target practice and repeater shotguns firing more than three cartridges are widely used".
The RSPB points out that during its negotiations to join the EU, Malta was the only country to win a transition period before having to comply with the Birds Directive. This permits the trapping of seven finch species from October 1 to January 31 for five years, to 2008.
During this time Malta has to establish a captive breeding programme. The society stresses that Malta was granted a derogation from the directive to allow the spring hunting of turtle doves and quails.
The report also emphasises that Malta has the shortest closed season in Europe and that it covers the time when relatively few birds are migrating through. It also claims that "the law is very poorly enforced". Mentioning the close collaboration between Birdlife Malta and RSPB, the report adds: "RSPB continues to help BirdLife Malta, including by lobbying the EU to prevent Malta from amending the directive to allow continued trapping and selling of finches. BirdLife Malta, supported by the RSPB, continues to campaign for complete transposition of the Birds Directive into Maltese law and its effective enforcement".
In a written reply to Mr Evans, Environment Commissioner Stravos Dimas, who is expected to visit Malta soon, said that "the Commission is working closely with all member states and key stakeholder groups, including the Federation of Associations of Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE) and Birdlife International, of which the RSPB is the United Kingdom partner, to ensure that the practice of hunting in all member states is sustainable and carried out with the requirements of the (EU's) directive".
Mr Dimas wrote that the Commission is continuing to monitor the transposition of the directive in the different member states and will continue to take legal action against countries that are not in conformity with the legislation.
He stressed that "in this regard the issue of hunting practices incompatible with the directive is not restricted to southern member states".
Asked for his reaction to the report, Environment and Rural affairs Minister George Pullicino said he preferred to read it before giving a detailed response.
However, he stressed that the government was taking all the necessary measures to ensure that all laws, including those negotiated with the EU, are strictly adhered to.
Mr Pullicino played down claims that two to three million birds are shot or trapped every year in Malta. Although one had to look into the fine details of the RSPB report, it was not the first time that similar claims made by other international organisations were found to be incorrect, he said.
The minister said hunting was a very sensitive issue in the entire southern European region and the culture change needed had to happen over a period of time. Because of the density of Malta's population, every illegal hunting activity has a bigger negative effect on its environment, he said.
Although such reports might sound alarming, and one had to take notice of what was said internationally, facts backed by figures showed that enforcement was making great strides. The government would continue to monitor the situation and every measure would be taken to ensure adherence to the current hunting laws, Mr Pullicino said.