EU member state funds being wasted as Malta pushes ahead with bird hunting

EU member state funds spent on bird conservation are being wasted due to the ongoing practice of hunting in Malta, while the changing of laws to appease the hunting lobby to keep their votes, and the slow progress of EU infringement proceedings are making the situation worse.

An investigation carried out by The Shift News and international partners found that Maltese hunters are enjoying increasingly lax local regulations and less supervision from authorities. When combined with slow EU action, this causes a significant detriment to Europe’s bird populations.

Every year, some 10,000 Maltese hunters are granted a license to shoot in the spring and autumn. Many of the species they target are subject to dedicated and expensive conservation programmes in the EU, which pass over Malta during the migration process.

Dr Norbert Schäffer, chairman of the German nature conservation association LBV, told The Shift’s German partner, environmental journalist Thomas Krumenacker: “It is intolerable that birds helped in one European country are then illegally shot in another country, part of the same EU”.

“In Malta, the problem has been known for a long time, and it is a relatively small area to enforce, so I would expect that the Maltese government would get a grip on it,” he said, adding this “suggests that authorities are not serious”.

Joseph Tumbrinck, special representative for the National Species Recovery Programme at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, said that conservation efforts for just one raptor species, the Montagu’s Harrier, can cost “at least €500,000 per year”.

He added that Malta is a key country for bird migratory routes which increases the threat to rare and endangered species or those with smaller populations.

Yearly controversy

Malta faces annual controversy with the opening of a spring hunting season, breaking EU law in the process.

The EU Birds Directive bans the practice of spring hunting due to its impacts on migrating bird populations, but despite this, a 2015 referendum confirmed public support for the practice by a slim margin.

Spring hunting is particularly harmful as it coincides with bird species’ northerly migration for breeding, amplifying its negative impact on their populations. Furthermore allowing the shooting of some birds ultimately leads to prohibited species being killed as well.

In 2015, the IUCN placed the European Turtle Dove on its Red List of threatened species, classifying it as vulnerable to extinction with the Maltese government placing a moratorium on Turtle Dove spring hunting in 2017. But this decision was then overturned by Prime Minister Robert Abela just weeks before the 2022 general elections.

God-given privilege

In response to questions from The Shift, Lino Farrugia, the CEO of the Malta Hunting Federation (FKNK) said the number of irregularities has been reduced to a few dozen yearly due to education and government help. He described hunting as “a passion and a way of life”.

He added, “Through a god-given privilege, the hunter and the trapper can enjoy nature at its best, which they work to preserve with such dedication” and “This lack of privilege in environmental conservation organisations results in jealousy and spite against hunters and trappers.”

“In Malta, birds are hunted in such small quantities that it does not affect any species’ populations, both legally huntable and those protected,” he claimed. Farrugia said this made hunting “sustainable”.

But bird activists disagree with BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stating that “protected birds are being killed every day, continuously.” The organisation has also published data showing how GPS-monitored birds suddenly drop off the radar once flying over Malta.

Over just the first two months of the Autumn 2023 hunting season, BirdLife Malta has noted the illegal shooting of Ospreys, Flamingos, Honey Buzzards, Marsh Harriers, an Egyptian Vulture, a Booted Eagle, a Short-Toed Eagle and Lesser Spotted Kestrel.

Barbara also highlighted the issue of birds being killed in Malta being “taken away from other European countries,” undermining “all the conservation efforts that are being done.”

Electoral motivation

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, a hunter and a trapper himself, has been controversially handed the hunting portfolio since 2017, detaching the responsibilities from the Environment Ministry.

BirdLife Malta had called the move “diabolical” and “purely electoral”.

In parliamentary comments at the time, Camilleri said, “Our position to safeguard [the hunting] tradition is very clear” vowing to hunters he would “keep what’s ours, ours”.

EU infringement

Malta is currently facing two active infringement proceedings by the European Commission.

The first proceeding, related to Malta’s ‘research’ derogation for trapping of finches, is now being heard before the European Court of Justice.

The second is related to Malta’s failures in enforcement and creating a general system of protection for wild birds.

A second letter of formal notice was issued in February of this year, ahead of the spring hunting season.

European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius condemned Malta’s decision to open a spring hunting season for Turtle Dove, expressing his “deepest concerns” in a letter to Camilleri.

During a visit to Malta in July, he said the EU “had no choice” but to take action following Malta’s refusal to comply with its directives.

Sinkevičius said Malta’s decisions do not just have a local impact but go against “the collective and dedicated efforts of the Commission, member states and stakeholders to halt the population decline and begin the recovery of the species.”

Since joining the EU, Malta has faced six different infringement cases for its breaches of EU law regarding hunting and trapping.

(Alice Taylor | Theshiftnews.com)