Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
being intimidated by local hunters and trap-
pers, of whom there are an estimated 20,000
(Fenech, 1992), especially where the latter
have carried out their pursuits in 'protected'
areas (Markwick, 2001).
Attempts to align Malta's environmental
legislation with EU requirements precipitated
strong reaction from the politically articulate
hunting lobby on a number of occasions (Borg,
1996). These issues entered party politics and
have contributed to the often sharp tensions on
questions of EU accession. As a consequence,
and to the dismay of many environmentalists
and nature lovers, Malta gained a number of
concessions from the EU during its accession
negotiations relating to environmental issues. In
particular, the hunting and trapping of wild
birds was allowed to continue. While Malta
accepted that it should adopt EU law (EC,
1979) on the protection of birds, it argued that
hunting and trapping wild birds was a tradi-
tional pursuit. As a central element of Maltese
culture it reflected Malta's particular biogeo-
graphical circumstances, and as such, should be
maintained (Box 16.1).
In Cyprus, challenges to the tourism sector
have been exacerbated in the short term by the
unsatisfactory process and outcome of acces-
sion (Warner, 1999), although tourism's prime
developmental characteristics - boosterism (Hall,
1999) in the south, and institutional fragility in
the north - remain. In summary, the challenges
facing the sector include:
Box 16.1.
Hunting and trapping in Malta.
The two main species hunted are turtle dove
and quail. Under EU law (EC, 1979), hunting
in spring is normally prohibited to protect
migrating birds. Yet the EC acceded to Malta's
derogation from this part of EU law so that the
Maltese could continue to hunt in spring for
these birds. Hunting was also permitted to
continue to take place between September and
the end of January each year. Bird hunting at
sea was also allowed to continue from 3 km
off the coast: the argument for this is that Malta
has no wetlands to attract wildfowl onto land.
Trapping is a traditional method of captur-
ing birds through the use of personally operated
nets. Birds that are trapped are not killed but
are kept in captivity. Trapping was allowed to
continue, conditionally, for a number of song-
bird species, including goldfinch, greenfinch,
chaffinch, linnet, hawfinch and siskin. The
conditions relate to a number of measures that
need to be implemented by 2008:
a study conducted to assess the
sustainability of trapping finches by
establishing how many birds may be
captured from the wild to maintain the
genetic diversity of the birds in captivity;
●
a full captive breeding system established
with trappers trained in avian breeding;
●
the registration of all trapping sites; and
●
no new licences issued during the period
of study.
●
Sources:
Attard and Cordina, 2002; FKNK,
2003; IAR, 2003.
the overall sustainability of tourism activity
and growth;
●
concentration of physical development
and urbanization constraining opportuni-
ties for establishing strong back-linkages
with rural hinterlands; and
●
unsatisfactory implementation of planning
approaches (e.g. Ioannides, 1995;
Saveriades, 2000; Sharpley, 2001; Alipour
and Kilic, 2004; CTO, 2005).
These raise issues of 'policy credibility'
(Grabel, 2000), whereby the political economy
of partition in both South and North Cyprus
has exacerbated the environmental conse-
quences of tourism (Fig. 16.3). The 'policy
credibility' model emphasizes that endoge-
nously determined factors are crucial
(Box 16.2), challenging the approach of the
lack of policy or policy clarity, and the low
level of priority for resolving problems and
lack of authority vested in tourism bodies
to overcome them, with consequently poor
monitoring and feedback;
●
lack of environmental education and com-
munity information, and thus absence of a
culture of environmental awareness and
informed participation;
●
lack of economic diversification and thus
dependency on tourism, with only limited
success in diversifying away from the 3Ss
markets;
●
inability to curb over-development and
coastal degradation resulting from the
intensity of construction, with the coastal
●
