2 Dossier on Wild Fauna in the Maltese Islands: Capture, Killing and Exploitation - DRAFT Disclaimers: The development of this version of the Dossier has involved a desk-based exercise together with preliminary consultations with targeted governmental entities. The document has since been updated and shall undergo a second round of consultations targeting additional stakeholder groups including the general public. Any gaps in data or, other information deemed important to further build the substance of the document and hence arrive at practical, implementable, effective and agreed conservation action, will be addressed through such stakeholder consultation. Criteria employed in this Dossier for prioritising species for conservation action (Appendix V of document) will also be further refined via the consultation exercise. Further development of recommendations (Section 4 of document) will ensue in cooperation with potential partners so as to arrive at agreed and committed conservation action, before formal adoption. Where information is quoted throughout the document, the reader is directed to refer to the actual publications, should further information on that particular subject be required. Ecosystems Management Unit Environment Protection Directorate Malta Environment and Planning Authority Policy on Nature Protection 2011 3 Dossier on Wild Fauna in the Maltese Islands: Capture, Killing and Exploitation - DRAFT Executive Summary he land constrained characteristics of the Maltese Islands together with high population density, intense anthropogenic activities and increasing demand for limited natural resources, T has led to the threatened status of several native and endemic species. In order to safeguard these species from further decline, and deterioration of their conservation status, they have been afforded strict legal protection on a national level. This prohibits inter alia, the capture, possession, killing, disturbance and trade of these species, and further calls for the safeguard of critical habitats important for their survival. Certain species whose range also covers other countries, and, in which they are also threatened, have also been protected on a regional and global level. Albeit protected, illegal activities of capture and killing and/or unsustainable activities of exploitation, without the knowledge such activities have on local populations, may undermine efforts to protect and conserve these species. Impacts associated with climate change would also exacerbate their threatened status, with the risk of local extirpation. Apart from legislation calling for strict protection, legislation also requires that any authorisation for the exploitation of a number of other species is subject to surveillance revealing that such taking or exploitation is not adversely affective the conservation status of the target species and non-target protected species. Management measures should be applied in cases where adverse impacts are revealed by such surveillance. However, limited availability of quantitative data on exploitation levels, especially for terrestrial species and non-target marine species and population trends, impedes the adequate assessment of the conservation status of threatened species. Indeed, several protected species, especially marine species, are currently assigned an “unknown” conservation status. Knowledge of the conservation status of a species is required for the formulation of action plans aimed at recommending measures for the safeguard of that species. The development of action plans should take into account the current evidential problems of deliberate and incidental capture, as well as the paucity of scientific data and incumbent challenges due to financial or administrative constraints. Moreover, members of the public should be encouraged to report on the occurrence of any illegal capture and killing of protected species in Malta to the relevant competent authorities. There is also the need for additional capacity building and resource mobilisation in order to address wildlife crime more effectively, efficiently and in a timely manner. Knowledge gaps on the conservation status of terrestrial and marine biodiversity in the Maltese Islands must however not delay efforts to conserve it. For this reason, decision and policy makers should be guided on the lines of the “precautionary principle” and the “ecosystem approach” when formulating conservation objectives and management programmes for maintaining species ranges, enhancing numbers in the long run, where this is desired, as well as restoring critical habitats to a favourable conservation status. Moreover, measures called for by national legislation and their effectiveness in safeguarding species and their habitats should be reviewed and harmonised as part of the ongoing “Better Regulation Initiative”. This is required to ensure that the respective national competent authorities undertake appropriate protective measures towards a common goal to curb any illegal activities and adjust exploitation levels and techniques used, where required. Finally, the urgent need for effective implementation and strengthened enforcement of existing legislative measures to control illegalities and punish infringements should be duly recognised. This can only be achieved with adequate political, administrative and financial support. Further to this, steps to encourage widespread public awareness and other ways of involving the general public for creating a “conservation-minded” society and the creation of incentives to ensure collaboration from their part, should also be an integral part of strategies and action plans and as part of celebrations of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020). 4 Dossier on Wild Fauna in the Maltese Islands: Capture, Killing and Exploitation - DRAFT Malta as a member of the European Union is required by the Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (otherwise known as the EC Habitats Directive): . to establish a strict protection regime to protect wild fauna (listed in Annex IV[a] to the Directive) in compliance with its Article 12; . to undertake surveillance of the conservation status of species in the European territory to which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community applies, particularly priority species, as required by Article 11; . to undertake measures, in light of results obtained through surveillance, to ensure that exploitation of species listed in Annex V[a] is compatible with these species being maintained at a favourable conservation status (FCS) (Article 14); and . to report every six year about the progress made with the implementation of the EC Habitats Directive in particular with respect to maintaining and/or restoring habitats and species of community interest to a FCS (Article 17). Furthermore, the EU Commission has launched in May 2011 a Communication on “Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020” (COM/2011/244 final). Target 1 of this strategy calls for inter alia the halting of the deterioration in the status of all species and habitats covered by EU nature legislation and for achieving a significant and measurable improvement in their status, by 2020, when compared to current assessments. Against this backdrop, this Dossier, which is essentially a framework document, has been compiled based on available data and bearing in mind the requirements of the afore-mentioned articles of the Habitats Directive. The Document addresses animal species that are considered, or may likely to be, threatened by deliberate and/or incidental capture and killing, as well as animal species whose exploitation should be managed, with a focus on those species included in the Habitats Directive and various subsidiary legislation issued under the Environment Protection Act (Act XX of 2001) which is partly repealed by the Environment and Development Planning Act, 2010 (Act X of 2010). Hence, the Dossier does not address avifauna. The Document consists of 8 sections; while sections 1 to 3, supported by the appendices, provide the necessary informative background to the subject addressed by the Dossier, sections 4 to 6 build the main substance of the document. The Dossier ultimately responds to mandates under the EU Habitats Directive and biodiversity related multilateral environmental agreements and, aims to assist Malta in building a strict protection regime, by devising strategic recovery plans for each of the species or group of species addressed (section 4 of the Document). Recommendations put forward will also contribute to addressing the national commitment made ‘to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, and restore them in so far as feasible, while stepping up the EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss’. The Dossier concludes by identifying priority conservation objectives for the group of taxa addressed (based on criteria defined in Appendix V) and further shortlists species requiring immediate direct and indirect conservation action. The Dossier will form the basis for the development of more detailed biodiversity action plans (BAPs) where deemed required. It is also fundamental for drawing funds for the implementation of such BAPs in partnership with key entities. 5 Dossier on Wild Fauna in the Maltese Islands: Capture, Killing and Exploitation - DRAFT CONTENTS Section: Title 1. Species Exploitation – A Brief Introduction Scope & Aims