The Director of Environment Protection Mr Vincent Gauchi Environment Protection Department Education Buildings Floriana CMR 02 Malta Dear Mr Gauchi, You will be fully aware of the international interest in the bloody flaunting of nature protection laws on the islands of Malta on a regular basis. We assume, from the title of your department, that you fill one of the key roles in the government with regard to nature and the environment; and are in a position to have a positive influence on the safe passage of the large numbers of birds migrating to and from the rest of Europe over the islands. The Environmental Monitoring Board, with representatives from the Federation for Hunting and Conservation, BirdLife Malta and the police and Armed Forces provide you with an effective and influential intelligence and operational staff. Nevertheless the unabated bi-annual bloody scenes of dead and injured migrating birds, not to mention the thousands of song birds imprisoned in tiny cages, appear to give the lie to a whole-hearted and coordinated effort by the responsible authorities. On the contrary, the impression is gained that those accountable, either out of disinterest or through lack of the proper resources, are unwilling and unable to seriously tackle the problem. We would welcome your comments on this apparent state of affairs; even better a pledge that the present barbaric rituals will come to a end in the near future. We have written to your colleagues in the government and in the executive organs and have drawn their attention to the requirements of the European Union bird and habitat directives. We have at the same time pointed out that both financial help and advice is available for candidate states. We hope, if you have not already done so, that you will review and take advantage of what is on offer. There will always be a number of conflicting priorities; we are in no doubt however that putting an end to the gratuitous slaughter and trapping of wild birds is a clear and important aim which can, when the will exists, be relatively quickly achieved. We wish you every success. Yours sincerely, David Conlin and concerned Eurobirders, ornithologists and others, representing the following countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States of America, Wales
ADDRESS/CONTACT Fon: +356 232022 Fax: +356 241378
MAIL FOR ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY Proact/Birding in Europe © David Conlin 2001
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