Changing spring tide in Malta

Lenke Balint,  Partner Development Officer - South East Europe, writes:
 

Migration - the regular movement of birds from one part of the world to another and back again - is one of the wonders of the natural world. There is so much that we are still trying to understand about this fantastic phenomenon – from the preparations birds undertake for it, to their incredible journeys despite dangers along the way; and their mammoth accomplishment of returning safely. Which is why when our own RSPB scientists revealed, for the first time, the migration route of a UK breeding turtle dove, it was a particularly joyous occasion. Turtle doves are the UK’s fastest declining bird – their population is halving in number every six year. Last year, our colleagues fitted a satellite tag to a turtle dove from Suffolk and were able to track its astonishing movements from the UK all the way to Mali, and back again; across the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Cadiz.

Unlike Titan, our tagged friend from Suffolk, some turtle doves will not be as lucky to survive migration this year. Thousands of them cross Malta on their yearly journey, as the island sits on the central Mediterranean flyway between Europe and Africa. In an upsetting decision earlier this month, the Maltese Government has given the go ahead for a new season of hunting starting mid- April. At present, Malta is the only country in the European Union (EU) that applies a derogation from the EU’s Birds Directive to allow hunting of turtle dove and quail in spring. The recent announcement made by the Maltese Government is especially distressing as it comes despite a stark warning from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that turtle doves are at risk of extinction – the species has recently been added for the first time to its Red List, classified as ‘vulnerable’.

Historically, spring hunting in Malta has been a primary concern for us, our trusted members and equally for our BirdLife International Partner, BirdLife Malta. We have been working in partnership with BirdLife Malta for many years to support bird conservation in the Mediterranean. Our first breakthrough on this issue happened in 2008 and 2009 – when we saw an injunction from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which disallowed spring hunting for the first time ever. This achievement followed a BirdLife Malta complaint to the European Commission and a fantastic response by our RSPB members – when an astonishing 115,000 of them signed an RSPB petition urging the Maltese Prime Minister to stop spring hunting. However, our success that year was short-lived, as spring hunting reopened again in 2010. This took place despite an ECJ ruling that by allowing spring hunting, Malta had failed to comply with the conditions for derogation and thus was in breach of the Birds Directive.

Interestingly enough, and as further proof that the issues facing migrating birds in the Mediterranean are still a core interest for our supporters, the opening of this year’s spring hunting season has brought renewed interest from our members in RSPB’s petition to the Maltese Government from 2010. As the RSPB webpage containing the 2010 petition is still active, a few dozen people have signed up and called again for the Maltese Government to reconsider its position on spring hunting. We salute this rejuvenated response and can only re-assure our members that we have not laid this matter to rest. We cannot walk away from it or from supporting our trusted BirdLife Partner until the shots fired in spring have come to a complete and enduring stop.

Despite the slow and sometimes frustrating progress on the issue, we must remind ourselves how far we have come from 2010. Last year was remarkable not only because we found out more about Titan’s whereabouts. It was also the year when Maltese citizens, tens of thousands of them, signed a petition to ask for an abrogative referendum on spring hunting to be held. Their demand later materialised in what we can only call as the greatest movement in environmental engagement in Maltese history – the referendum to ban spring hunting on the island. A few years ago, we could have not even dreamed of a referendum on the fate of birds in a country which considers hunting intrinsically linked to its Mediterranean culture and identity. While working in Malta during the run-up to the popular vote, I have personally witnessed how deeply divisive this issue was for the small island nation known for its strong sense of kinship – it pitched family members, friends, neighbours and co-workers against each other, often to the point of no return.

And indeed it was that sense of kinship that eventually sealed the fate of the referendum in favour of the hunting lobby. An astonishing 75% of eligible voters cast their vote on the matter, an impressive turnout, which even surpassed the number of citizens who voted in Malta’s referendum on divorce a few years earlier. Despite the record turnout, the Maltese have passed on an historic opportunity to end spring hunting on the island. The hunting community secured the narrowest of victories, with 50,4% of the vote. With this incredibly tight result, however disappointing for conservation groups, the Maltese Government as well as the hunting lobby now know, beyond any doubt, that there are as many people on the island who agree with practising spring hunting as those who wish to see it banned. A growing number of these people are engaging in monitoring the activities of hunters, looking for illegal activities and reporting them to the police. As a result of this, the number of record fines, as well as jail sentences, has gone up significantly in Malta.

The referendum has catalysed and galvanised a powerful environmental movement and a growing awareness on the island that neither the political establishment nor the conservation community can afford to ignore. It is no wonder that since last year, the Maltese Government wants to be seen as taking away from the concessions it has awarded the hunting lobby since its been in power. Whether it is closing last year’s hunting season earlier because of illegalities; or seemingly reacting to the recent concerns raised by local and international conservation organisations regarding the perilous state of turtle doves, the Maltese Government is acting upon the lasting pressure built up by the referendum. While announcing the opening of a new hunting season in 2016, a series of changes were also made public, including reducing turtle dove quotas from 11,000 to 5,000 birds. Other changes include shortening hunting hours and the number of weeks during which hunting is permitted; as well as some modifications regarding hunting in the autumn.

While we acknowledge that the ultimate cause of the sharp decline in the population of the European Turtle Dove is associated with loss of suitable breeding and foraging habitat, it is sensible and responsible to advocate for limiting every source of mortality. The latest measures announced by the Maltese Government for the 2016 hunting season are in no way satisfactory or adequate to ensure this. Furthermore, there are many limitations in regards to their actual enforcement on the ground.

As a consequence, this spring, just as in many seasons before 2016, birds will die. After the loss of the referendum last year, the opening of a new hunting season in April is yet another great disappointment to us. However, we must draw strength from the public frustration with the hunting lobby in Malta, which is forcing the Government to start behaving differently. We must draw strength from the policy-advocacy work we are tirelessly undertaking with BirdLife Malta, encouraging the ECJ to take legal action again against Malta, this time armed with even more scientific data linked to the decline of turtle doves. Our patient determination will not wane as it is already slowly turning the tide in Malta. We are witnessing, perhaps for the first time, the march of history heading in the right direction - it just has not arrived in time for this year’s spring hunting season. Ensuring safe migration for birds over the Mediterranean may still be quite a ways away but it is certainly closer than it has ever been.