Environmental NGOs ‘deeply concerned’ over Labour’s hunting agreement

NGOs say agreement might form basis for future government's policy on wildlife

6 March 2013, 12:00am
by Matthew Vella

2 min read

ENGOs BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Helwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA), Friends of the Earth Malta, Gaia Foundation, Greenhouse Malta and Nature Trust today issued a joint statement highlighting their concerns over the recent agreement between the PL and FKNK on hunting and trapping on the Maltese Islands. Statement follows.

"We are deeply concerned about both the underlying process that has led to an agreement between the PL and FKNK as well as its content. Recent statements from both PL and FKNK indicate that the agreement is the result of two years of private negotiations between the political party and the hunting lobby," the organisations said in a statement.

"We don't consider this to have been an open and transparent process and do not regard it as an appropriate way to shape the environmental policies of a potential future government. There have been no similar long-term and ongoing discussions between the PL and the above named environmental NGOs on wildlife and countryside issues."

The NGOs said the agreement was likely to cause more harm to birds, wildlife and the countryside as the basis for a future government's priorities on wildlife and countryside issues.

"We strongly believe that anyone who is elected to government has an obligation to address issues like hunting in a balanced manner and should therefore listen to both hunters and environmental groups. Aarhus Convention rules state clearly that environmental decisions must be taken with public consultation and participation, and therefore no negotiations are to be conducted and concluded without such participation."

The NGOs also said that if the agreement was to be fully implemented, bird conservation on the Maltese islands would face a bleak future, while issues such as the safe access to the countryside of the people of Malta would become more difficult because the illegal occupation of the countryside by the hunters and trappers was not addressed in the agreement between PL and FKNK.

Today the PN have published an advertisement criticising the agreement between PL and the hunters, but the NGOs criticised the party for not having made its position on hunting any more clearer than Labour's. "We are non-partisan and while AD have a clear policy on spring hunting, there are other issues relating to hunting and trapping where their position requires some clarification too."

Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...

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Everybody has a right to fulfill his hobbies. Maybe that these groups should be careful. I ask Din l-art Helwa, what are you doing with the environment near the places of interest that they hold. Nothing. The interest lies where they can make money. Just visit the majestic Cottonera gate (bieb haz-Zabbar). Did they improve the environment. Well lately there were nationalist activities going on. Is there any interest in all this?

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What a shame that MaltaToday has become such a Labour rag that it doesn't post the things it thinks are going to make Labour look bad! Once again I say that environmentalists need to come to terms with the fact that this is, and has always been, the way Labour works. So much for "Malta Taghna Lkoll" -- looks like the Labour Party left out the **majority** of the stakeholders in favour of the hunters!!! When are you going to get used to the fact that Labour has no principles and just does whatever is politically convenient at the time. Why else do they always say that they will reveal this or that "...fil hin propizju"?! And then they end up never doing it!!! Maybe we'll have access to the details we have been asking for AFTER the election??? Well, now perhaps you will finally see that they sold out to the hunters because they figured there were more votes up for grabs from them than there were from environmentalists. So let Labour in, and then spend 5 years getting used to it! :-)

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Whilst it is true that the PN's policies on hunting have not achieved the max of what some may wish for, they have curtailed alot of abuse, they have stopped alot of illegal hunting, they have cut down on the hunting seasons, and they have restored large swathes of the countryside to the people. There will always be those that want more than this, but the quest for utopia is never-ending and some demands are unrealistic, and we should understand this. The question is, do you want to reward those that are promising to take us back to the middle ages (so much for the fake slogan that malta is everyone's), or do you want to reward and trust those that have slowly but surely cut abuse, introduced discipline and restored alot of countryside to us lesser mortals. You could also reward those aiming for utopia, but let us be frank, utopia does not exist, so aiming for it is a waste of time. The choice is yours, but do not blame others if your choice cintributes to restoring the law of the jungle.

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I cannot see what the NGOs are harping on about. The PL agreement with FKNK makes three points very clear - (a)there will be no new negotiations with the EU to change the current status of hunting and bird trapping; (b) Maltese hunters and trappers will be treated in line with the same regulations for hunters and trappers throughout the EU; (c) any law breakers will be immediately prosecuted. So, what are the NGOs grousing on about (pardon the pun)? ALBERT FENECH Qawra

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The PL / Hunting Lobby agreement is already a done deal so a formal complaint to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee is the next logical step. Mr. Muscat hasn't even seen the inside of Castille and yet is already in breach of an EU Convention. I bet the PL 'technical team', in their haste to meet the election deadline, must have overlooked this point.

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Would these same NGOs' expand on this issue for the sake of other concerned citizens? I would be interested to know of any illegalities agreed between any political parties. I am not interested in cleaver loopholes already available, but only in new illegalities, if any. Are there any or are there none? Straight answers please. No waffle.

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I am a bird lover and do not support hunting. But what the PL has said is simply that the EU Laws will be fully respected as well as the rights of the hunters who cannot be discriminated against in Malta as opposed to Europe. We are either in the EU or we are not. The fact that we are means that all sorts of discriminations must be abolished and Maltese hunters will be treated equally as all other European hunters. I believe this is fair and just, despite the fact that I disagree with hunting and killing God's creatures for sport.

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Well, environmentalists had better get used to it! This is the way Labour does business -- behind closed doors and behind everybody's backs! This was just another gimmick -- seen as a quick vote-winner for Labour. I guess the PL must have calculated that there are more hunters than environmentalists, and hence it was worth it! The main thing is to get into power at all costs -- so they are ready to sell their souls to the highest bidders... Maybe it will convince you that letting the PL in is not in your best interests, or that of the country!

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And what about the Ramblers?? Are they ok with the agreeemnt? Or do they also have some underhand discussion going on for years? Spineless lot.