One week to the day that 124,214 people voted 'No' to end spring hunting in a historic referendum, BirdLife Malta today urged all 'No' voters to 'seize the moment'. They can ensure the momentum created by the referendum grows by showing their support for the organisation.
Geoffrey Saliba, BirdLife Malta President said, "More people than ever before have shown they care about birds and the countryside and people stood up and were counted when it mattered, now we urge everyone who voted 'No' to hold on to a dream of a Malta free of spring hunting that is alive with birds and join us."
With 'Springwatch' teams from BirdLife Malta already in the countryside monitoring birds flying over the islands and the inevitable illegal hunting that accompanies them, Mr Saliba added, "BirdLife Malta has drawn strength and courage from the number of people that supported the 'No' vote and we are determined to work even harder to stop illegal hunting in Malta and to help bring illegal hunters to justice. We are already seeing the effectiveness of this year's Springwatch in achieving this. More support can only help this."
The simplest way to show support is to become a member of BirdLife Malta and there will be newspaper advertisements on Sunday and further promotional leaflets to make it easy for people to join. Mr Saliba said, "By joining BirdLife Malta, 'No' voters will be helping us to protect birds and the countryside. They will also be demonstrating that their commitment to nature goes far beyond the cross they placed in a ballot paper last weekend and that after last week's referendum, birds and the environment really matter."
'No' voters can join BirdLife Malta by filling in the reply forms in some of the Sunday papers, using the leaflets that become available from tomorrow or emailing [email protected] for an application form.