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December 07, 2004
EU says Malta has worst hunting abuse record
The increased and dedicated efforts of individual conservationists and protest groups over the past 4 years appears to be bearing fruit. It DOES help to support a protest campaign!
From the Times of Malta 8. December 2004:
The European Commission will be sending an inspection team to Malta in March amid claims that the island is the worst per capita abuser of hunting regulations in the EU.
The Commission has been inundated by letters of complaints from Maltese residents, tourists, MEPs and NGOs and it was high time for the EU to carry out a detailed inspection of the hunting situation in Malta, Anne Teller, administrator on hunting issues at DG Environment, told The Times.
The six-man delegation will be made up of individuals from the DG Environment's Nature and Biodiversity Unit and the Legal Unit. The team was originally meant to visit Malta by the end of this year but decided to postpone its trip to March to coincide with a period notorious for illegal hunting.
Ms Teller said a total of 95 per cent of complaint letters from Malta sent to the DG Environment's Unit for Nature and Biodiversity revolve around hunting.
"We receive letters about hunting in Malta every week, ranging from the fact that birds are being trapped and that migratory birds are being shot down during the close season," she said.
The DG Environment has asked the Maltese authorities for clarification about several instances of protected birds being shot in the past few months. Birds of prey, including short-toed eagles, flamingos and herons were shot down at the height of the hunting season in September and October.
Ms Teller said that several MEPs, especially British, Germans and Italians, have urged the EU to scrutinise Malta's hunting situation closely. France, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus were the biggest offenders in the EU where bird hunting was concerned, Ms Teller said, though Malta was now the worst in terms of per capita flouting of hunting regulations.
Read the full article at - http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=172060 - which states that
Malta is now the worst per capita abuser of hunting regulations in the EU which gives those of us who have been involved regularly in anti-hunting campaigns new hope for the future. But we want to see concrete results.
David
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David Conlin
Proact International
Posted by Surfbirds at December 7, 2004 07:17 PM
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