Thank you for donating!With your support we will be able to help the Maltese people stop spring hunting...Thank you very much for helping us in our efforts to stop illegal and unsustainable hunting of birds in spring in the Maltese Islands.
The response to our Stop Spring Hunting appeal, with the help of Chris Packhamand his team, as well as support from Bill Oddie and the League Against Cruel Sports and many others, has been tremendous. And your donation, together with thousands of others from Europe, the United States and elsewhere, will ensure we can mount the best campaign possible on behalf of the Maltese people fighting for the protection of threatened birds migrating through Malta in the spring.
Stopping spring hunting in Malta through a national referendum called for by the Maltese people will be a landmark achievement, not only for the conservation of birds in Europe, but also for the power of direct democracy to help people overcome the lack of political will to take action to protect wildlife and the environment. It also sends a strong message to the European Commission and EU members states that people expect far more from their political institutions when it comes to wildlife and the environment.
As I’m sure you have seen, we have reached and passed our target of €50,000 - and we still have three weeks to go until the campaign closes. We estimate the total cost of the €100,000 for the whole campaign, and this is the final amount we have set our sights on reaching by the 3rd June.
So we still need your help. Please keep on telling your friends about the Indiegogo campaign; we have some exciting new perks to offer this week and will be continuing to push the campaign through social media and our partners and supporters throughout Europe and the US.
The spring hunting season officially ended on 30th April, and unfortunately we have to report almost twenty cases of illegally shot protected birds recovered during the season. The list includes Marsh and Mont agu’s harriers, Bee-eaters, Hobbies, Stone curlews, Little Egrets, Black-winged Stilts, Little Bitterns, Scopoli’s Shearwaters, Yellow-legged Gulls, Common Swifts, and a total of six Common Kestrels, like this one in the photo on the right.
Almost every single one of them had to be put down as the result of their horrific gunshot wounds. Several birds were found in the countryside days after they had been shot; they spent days in pain and without being able to feed themselves.We have only been able to send very few of them out for rehabilitation. Once again, the spring hunting season – which is only opened for Quail and Turtle Dove – has been the excuse for poachers to be out in the countryside and shoot at whatever bird was in sight.
This is why we are going out in full force and make sure the referendum is a success. We plan to send leaflets to every voter and mount a powerful campaign in the newspapers, television and on the internet to motivate people to go out and vote. That’s why need the €100,000. So, if you want to do more, keep spreading the word on our campaign - share this email and our fundraising campaign page through Facebook and Twitter– please ask your friends and family to share and donate to our campaign if they can. #stopspringhunting.
Thank you.
BirdLife Malta and the Spring Watch team
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