BirdLife seeks hunting ban in nature protection areas

BirdLife Malta today published a map that illustrates the huge increase in the area of countryside that, it said, would be safely accessible to the public if Malta’s nature protection areas were designated as “no-hunting zones”. The release of the map coincides with the launch of the second banner in BirdLife’s “Your Voice Counts” campaign, which asks the people to demand action from politicians on wildlife and countryside issues. The map shows Malta and Gozo’s Natura 2000 protected sites, which BirdLife Malta says should be designated as no-hunting areas, along with the areas in Malta and Gozo currently designated as Bird Sanctuaries, where hunting and trapping are prohibited. These last amount to just five per cent of the land area of the Maltese islands, the largest such “sanctuary” being Malta International Airport. Other areas designated as Bird Sanctuaries include Marsa Golf Course and Ta’ Qali Airfield. BirdLife  also launched the second banner in its “Your Voice Counts” campaign. The banner depicts Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat, gagged with stickers bearing the letters RTO over their mouths. In a statement to the media Steve Micklewright, BirdLife Malta’s Executive...