is pleased to present
The negative impact of
Bird-Trapping
on Maltese
Flora
Images © Steve Borg 2002
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The negative impact of |
Images © Steve Borg 2002
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written for my-malta-dotcom by Steve Borg
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Edwin Lanfranco, a leading Maltese biologist, writes that
"the Maltese vascular flora
comprises about 1,000 species of which some 800 are indegenious, the rest
being naturalised aliens."
In his paper "Identifying Trends in Erosion and Land Degradation through the Study of Vegetation" (1999), he stresses that bird trapping and hunting "are not harmful just to birds but are also both a direct and an indirect cause of erosion and aridification. Bird trapping, especially, has extremely harmful effects on the countryside both aesthetically and qualitatively. There is a tendency to create large rectangular trapping ranges where all vegetation is removed and which are then often covered with some bare soil. Apart from the direct effect on biodiversity, the removal of plants means that any soil is easily eroded away. Moreover, in Mediterranean ecosystems, birds are important vectors in seed dispersal."
In bird-trappers' jargon, the weeding out of flowers from trapping
sites is referred to as 'tindif', cleaning. At times, this
'cleaning' includes the liberal application of herbicides to prevent
vegetation growth. Obviously, this refers to the indegenious wild flowers
of Malta, a significant part of our natural heritage. The evident illegality of well over eighty bird
hides in the Hagar Qim & Mnajdra World Heritage Site is a sore
point of discussion. It is interesting to refer to an interview, published
in The Malta Independent on Sunday of the 10th March 2002, where
journalist Karl Schembri brought up the issue with Planning Authority
Chairman Andrew Calleja:
Karl Schembri: "When are you going
to remove the traps laid by hunters in the Mnajdra Temple area?"
Andrew Calleja: "The Cultural Heritage Interim Board was meeting to
discuss works envisaged on the perimeter fence and security of the area,
so we are working hand in hand with the Board. When the time comes
for these traps to be removed we will act accordingly."
Martin Galea, Secretary of a national heritage organisation, Din l-Art Helwa, writing in the October 2000 issue of "Vigilio", a heritage journal,
expresses his society's disdain about this matter. "The recent scandal where the Ministry of the Environment amended the hunting regulations to allow hunters to shoot from the roads was the epitome of the malaise afflicting this country."
"The Minister of Environment [Dr. Francis Zammit Dimech], even stated that the new regulations
made hunting safer. Readers will not be shocked to learn that in Malta's archeological park, which contains Hagar Qim and Mnajdra,
there are over thirty illegal hunters' hides. This, in an area enclosed by a wall which cost Lm50,000 [c. USD150,000]
to build at taxpayers' expense, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is simply shameful and uncivilized."
The point is that the Maltese authorities, other than being obsessed by their egocentricity, are also masters of incompetence. To speak of eco-tourism, and yet allow
this barbarity to go on renders the Government's statements as simply exercises of empty rethoric. Aristophanes [448-388BC],
the Greek playwright, informs us that "a popular politician has a horrible voice, bad breeding and a vulgar manner."
But are we of 'my-malta.com' morbidly emotional about all this? Definitely not, for we have no hidden agenda, nor any political designs. Our concern focuses
on one cardinal aspect, the safeguarding of Malta's natural and historic heritage. For the benefit of those who do not live on Malta, we are presenting the
seasonal changes witnessed on the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Archeological Park garigue. These are some of the flowers daubed with kerosene, in order for them to
wither, to dry, to die.
Sections with Seasonal flora *coming soon*
Luka Pintar, a Slovene pediatrician
has spent a lifetime photo-documenting the flora of the small Alpine
republic. In his book Flowers in Slovenia, he informs us that the
"Hladnikia, Hladnikia pastinacifolia, is one of the treasures of the
Slovene flora, being the only endemic Slovene genus." Another endemic
Slovenian flower, the Short-Haired Sandwort, Moehringia villosa, was
identified in Baska Grapa.
Dr. Lanfranco lists the endemic species and subspecies of
the Maltese Islands. By endemic, this implies that they are not
found anywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, another three plants are endemic to Malta and to the neighbouring islands of Lampedusa, Linosa and Lampione, that constitute the Pelagian archipelago. These are the Maltese Toadflax, Papocci ta' Malta (Linaria pseudolaxiflora), the Maltese Waterwort, (Elatine gussonei) and the Lampedusa Carrot, (Daucus lopadusanus).
Another three plants that are to be found only in Malta and Sicily are: Pignatti's Ferngrass (Desmazeria pingnatii), Pygmy Groundsel (Senecio pygmaeus) and the Sicilian Iris, Fjurdulis Sqalli (Iris sicula). The Sicilian Squill, Ghansar Ikhal (Scilla sicula) is known only in Malta, Sicily and Calabria. These add up to a total of twenty three endemic or quasi-endemic species to Malta. There may be some more endemic species that need to be identified.
Interest in Maltese plants has been a marked feature of recent years. Numerous publications discuss the topic, whereas Maltapost has published numerous sets of postage stamps depicting our flora. All this helps bring about more awareness of the preciousness of the remaining tracts of countryside.
The lay reader might not be able to gauge the negative implications of bird-trapping in Malta, unless one is made aware of the dire consequences that Maltese flora is being subjected to. This is reason of our consternation.
This present generation of Maltese environmentalists has to suffer until Malta's natural heritage is given the due attention it deserves. What we are striving for is a revolution of the consciousness. This suffering is, hopefully, transient.
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