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From The Malta Independent May 21, 2001
BirdLife has called on the police to take effective action to stop illegal hunting
"As migration intensifies, it is glaringly obvious that the
Administrative Law Enforcement unit (ALE) are hopelessly
overstretched and understaffed to cope with the abundance of law infringements occurring daily.
BirdLife receives
daily reports of injured birds of prey, bee-eaters and other attractive species. "A shift of just eight police officers
is totally inadequate for controlling the thousands of shooters spread around the islands and the surrounding sea" according
to a statement issued by
BirdLife.
BirdLife say .....that over 1,000 protected birds were shot down in the Buskett
area in September 1999 alone.
According to the BirdLife figures, in the first four months of this year, the Administrative
Law Enforcement seized over 500 protected birds from hunters. "When one considers that the figure is the effort of a
severely understaffed team, one begins to realise that such a haul is barely scratching the tip of the iceberg" said
a statement.
"For all the arguments about Malta's small size and alleged insignificance, the ornithological
value of our country vis-à-vis European bird population is nevertheless confirmed in BirdLife International's authoritative
Important Bird Areas, which lists no less than five sites in Malta which are classed as ornithologically important to European
bird distribution" BirdLife said.
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