Richard Lia appointed acting head of Wild Birds Regulation Unit
Richard Lia will be assuming the role of acting head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU), a spokesperson from the Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change has told The Malta Independent.
Lia, who previously served as a senior manager at the WBRU, will be replacing Sergei Golovkin, who resigned last week.
“Further information will be communicated in due course when role of head of the WBRU is formally fulfilled,” the spokesperson said.
Asked whether the ministry was concerned, given that Golovkin resigned a few days before the hunting season started on 1 April, the spokesperson said that “the ministry remains committed to overseeing effective implementation of various projects, educational awareness programmes and enforcement initiatives, and is confident the important role of the WBRU will remain and be stengthened in the near future.”
Following Golovkin’s resignation, Birdlife Malta called on the government to shift the responsibility of enforcing the Conservation of Wild Birds legislation onto the Malta Environment and Resources Authority (ERA).
“It is very clear that this unit has failed to achieve some of its important goals, mainly related to enforcement, due to its lack of competence in this field, especially in ornithology,” the statement read.
“The enforcement remit should return to the ERA, which has competent people who can handle this matter more efficiently.”
BirdLife Malta insisted that it “has been, and will remain, the government’s policy that determines how agencies – and hence the civil servants within them – operate.”
The statement went on to say that the WBRU could remain an agency that looked at derogations from the European Birds Directive and the relative administration and legislation.
The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) welcomed the Golovkin’s resignation, saying that since his appointment, “the hunting and trapping enforcement system has become a disaster and requires a total reform.”
“The damage his actions and proposals have done to Malta’s ability to enforce its hunting regulations and comply with international conser- vation conventions and directives is unimaginable,” CABS president Heinz Schwarze said in statement, adding that nearly all new rules and enforcement procedures established since Golovkin became head of the WBRU in 2014 “have led to a significant breakdown of enforcement.”
In a statement, the ministry thanked Golovkin for his service to the WBRU over the years.
The spring hunting season will be open between 1 and 21 April, despite scientific evidence and recommendations from the ERA and Birdlife that the season should take place between 15 March and 4 April, specifically to avoid the turtle dove peak migratory season, which is now protected in spring. The Ornis Committee had recommended the season be open from 5 to 25 April.
Hunting enforcement board to be set up
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary Clint Camilleri yesterday announced that a board to evaluate and discuss the hunting season and its enforcement would be set up following an agreement between representatives from Birdlife Malta, the Administrative Law Enforcement unit within the police force, the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, and the hunters’ federation FKNK.
The statement said that the committee would meet frequently and serve as an important platform to facilitate better coordination of data.
“Its purpose would be to better address abuse by certain individuals that may be taking place,” the statement read.