Birdlife: Finch trapping will set bird conservation back five years

Mepa, government representatives voted in favour of lifting ban

Yesterday's approval by the Ornis committee of a proposal to re-legalise the finch trapping will set bird conservation in Malta back five years, Birdlife said today.

Two caged Linnets, a protected species, being used 

as decoys for illegal trapping. BirdLife Malta

“It is incomprehensible that the government will now be considering reintroducing this outlawed and environmentally indefensible practice just to placate the trapping lobby,” said BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager, Nicholas Barbara.

Trapping wild songbirds became illegal in Malta in 2009, after a five-year phasing-out period negotiated as part of Malta's EU Accession Treaty agreement. The change brought Malta’s national wildlife protection laws into line with Europe's Wild Birds directive, which guarantee protected status to wild finches and prohibit songbird trapping due to the activity’s ability to decimate wild bird populations, the society said.

“There is just no valid reason to take songbirds from the wild,” Mr Barbara said, “Finches readily breed in captivity, so people are still able to keep caged birds perfectly legally. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

On Sunday, the Times of Malta published an article revealing that FKNK and “independent” government appointed representatives on Malta’s Ornis Committee would be voting in favour of legalising finch-trapping at yesterday’s Ornis meeting. 

“And that is exactly what happened,” said Mr Barbara, who also represents BirdLife Malta on the committee.

Despite concerns raised by BirdLife Malta during the meeting, the proposal to re-legalise finch trapping was passed thanks to FKNK, MEPA and the three government appointed representatives voting in favour of recommending a derogation. BirdLife Malta alone voted against the proposal.

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