A group of environmental and civic action NGOs have written to environment minister Aaron Farrugia, calling for the removal of Prof. Victor Axiak from his post as head of the Environment and Resources Authority.
The NGOs accused Axiak of “repeatedly and unashamedly during the last few years, acted and voted against the environmental wellbeing of this country.”
“Instead of acting as a guardian for our limited environmental resources, and duly guiding ERA to behave as an authority and regulator, Axiak has consistently chosen to ally himself with developers and roadbuilders, thus ignoring objections and concerns about conservation, but also public wellbeing,” the NGOs said in their strongly-worded letter signed by Extinction Rebellion Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth, Malta Youth in Agriculture (MaYA) Foundation, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust, Ramblers’ Association, Rota, and The Archaeological Society.
Posted: Apr 09, 2021 5:00 AM AT | Last Updated: April 9
Graham Forbes and Renata Woodward at Wilkins Field.(Jon Collicott) comments
The Nature Trust of New Brunswick wants the city of Fredericton to protect one of the area s most important birding sites.
Wilkins Field is home to some rare and nationally endangered and threatened birds, including Least Bitterns. This site is one of the best natural history spots in the Maritimes, particularly for four or five species of birds that are really quite rare and almost impossible to see elsewhere in the Maritimes, said biologist Graham Forbes, president of the Fredericton Nature Club.
BC Nature Trust looking to purchase and protect area with six sensitive South Okanagan ecosystems - Penticton News castanet.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from castanet.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The public has a legal right to access a rural pathway that has been used for that purpose for some time, even if it cuts through private property, the Ramblers Association claimed on Monday.
Referring to a 2005 court judgment, the president of the environmental NGO, Ingram Bondin, said it was illegal to block pathways regularly used by the public even if they were located on private land.
The authorities, he said, should intervene to address the worrying trend.
“The owner of a private road that has been open to the public cannot close it or bar the public from accessing it,” the judgment stated.
Four protected shearwaters died on the coast of Comino on Sunday morning after they were caught on a fishing line.
A video posted on the Facebook closed group Rubs Puppy Love, shows two men on a boat trying to rescue the struggling birds.
Ten birds can be seen in all, some of them floating and not moving.
The video poster said all birds were freed except for the four that were already dead.
A spokesperson from BirdLife said that 18 birds were freed and another boat had found one more bird injured. This will be taken to a vet.
The birds, the spokesman said, were freed by hunters.