The government today condemned the hideous act of shooting protected storks that occurred yesterday and has deployed the necessary resources to investigate the incident and to bring perpetrators to justice.

In a drive to stamp out illegal targeting of protected species, last October the Government revamped national legislation and doubled applicable penalties for illegal shooting of protected birds. “Whilst, as amply documented in the enforcement report published last Saturday, multiple improvements in enforcement occurred over the past few months, the latest incident shows that some rogue individuals are still undeterred from committing such brazen crimes," Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes said in reaction to the storks’ shooting incident.

“Therefore the government will do whatever is necessary to not only bring perpetrators to justice, but to also eliminate the very possibility of such acts occurring in the future," he added.

Penalties to increase tenfold

In the next few days, the government willpublish further amendments to the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations (S.L.504.71). These amendments will include a provision that any shooting or trapping for protected species listed in Schedules I and IX of these Regulations, even in the case of a first time offence, will automatically incur a penalty comprising of €5,000 fine, and / or imprisonment for one year, as well as permanent revocation of license and confiscation of corpus delicti. In case of second or subsequent offence, the applicable penalty will go up to €10,000, confiscation, and / or imprisonment for two years. These measures represent a ten-fold increase in the presently applicable minimum fine for first time and subsequent offences, whilst permanent revocation of license, and imprisonment, which, at present, only apply to repeat offenders, will also apply in the case of a first time offence in such cases.

“The message is clear and simple: any targeting birds listed in Schedules I and IX is not tolerated. Perpetrators can run, but they will not be able to hide for long, as the entire legal hunting and trapping community will stand behind the Government on our measures. These criminals will be condemned and rejected and will not find refuge amongst the law-abiding community," the Parliamentary Secretary said.

Government is also taking further steps to increase field surveillance. Among other measures, the Police shall be deploying the recently acquired specialised unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle, which will greatly increase anti-poaching monitoring capabilities. The government is also considering deployment of wardens and plain clothes surveillance of the countryside in addition to routine uniformed patrols. Furthermore, preparations are underway to establish a specialised training course for enforcement personnel. Once established, this training course will result in a core group of officers being professionally trained in disciplines related to wildlife crime surveillance and prevention. These officers will subsequently form the core of the proposed Wildlife Crime Investigation Unit which will be set up within the Malta Police Force.

BirdLife welcomes increased penalties

BirdLife Malta welcomed this afternoon’s announcement by the government that new tougher mandatory penalties for the most serious offences against wildlife- the shooting and trapping of “highly protected species” of birds.

“In light of the years that BirdLife Malta and other conservation organisations have been campaigning for better legal protection for wild birds from the threat of direct persecution in Malta, we hope that this will act as an improved deterrent to would-be poachers,” said the organisation’s Conservation Manager, Nicholas Barbara.

The conservation organisation said it also looked forward to the instatement of the long-awaited wildlife crime unit, as well as a review of the tactics employed by police to detect, gather evidence against and apprehend illegal hunters and trappers.

“It has long been apparent that the police are not equipped to deal with the problem they are facing,” said Mr Barbara. “Addressing this is essential to ensuring that the higher fines for those convicted will be effective.”

In the past 36 hours, illegal hunters have been targeting protected birds around Malta and Gozo in apparent disregard of the law and the current level of enforcement or existing penalties for convicted offenders.

“Since Sunday morning we have witnessed the shooting of several protected bird species that have been seen migrating through the islands, including highly protected White Storks, and birds of prey such as Marsh Harriers and kestrels,” said Mr Barbara.

BirdLife said it was not aware of the authorities having apprehended any suspects in relation to any of this weekend’s incidents, and put this down to overstretched personnel in the ALE not having the capacity to respond to or prevent so many incidents across the length and breadth of the islands.

“It is clear that unchecked illegal hunting and trapping are still the rule in Malta, not the exception,” said Mr Barbara. “It is not just rare birds like the White Storks this weekend or the eagles in October. From the commoner Marsh Harrier to the smaller finches, the reality is that at any point in time these birds are at risk of being shot or trapped.”

On Saturday evening, the government published a report suggesting that decreases in the detection and successful prosecution of illegal hunting and trapping offences in 2013 compared with the previous year pointed to an actual decrease in illegal hunting and trapping.

But this conclusion is not supported by the evidence gathered by BirdLife and CABS’s monitoring activities in spring and autumn, or by the proliferation of cases of rare protected birds being targeted by poachers in the countryside of Malta and Gozo, and the lack of successful convictions in most of these cases.

“The fact remains that whatever the penalties for those people who are convicted, it is a long way from the countryside to the courtroom,” said Mr Barbara.