Albania, new law to extend the hunting ban by 5 years

After the opening of the last few days, the Tirana government has started the process for the regulatory text: it could come into force starting from September 2016. The news on international hunting concerns again theAlbania: a few days ago there was talk of a possible stop to the ban imposed by Tirana to hunting in the Balkan nation, but now the local media have explained how the government is preparing a new law to extend this ban by another five years. According to reports from BIRN Albania, the Ministry of the Environment has already prepared the draft of the legislative text, which will be examined by Parliament next July. So the new provision would come into force from September 2016. The last two years have been characterized by a moratorium regarding this hunting ban and animal rights activists have claimed the excellent results achieved in this period. However, it must be said that the law has not stopped poachers, with forms of illegal hunting reported on several occasions. Furthermore, BIRN referred to Italian hunters, the main recipients of the ban, given that with the latter it was decided to put a stop to their travels in Albania to trade some specific birds, such as the lark and the rock partridge. L'Albanian Ornithological Society estimated about 170 thousand birds slaughtered every year, a phenomenon that was wanted to be countered in every way. In 2014, the government spoke of a drastic but necessary measure to protect animals in the first place the most endangered species such as the brown bear and the eagle. Illegal hunting was favored by unclear rules and the moratorium and the new law were designed to fill the gaps. In that case 75 shotguns were registered across the country, without neglecting automatic weapons. The heads of the Albanian hunting associations also showed some photos in which Italian hunters were immortalized with freshly killed ducks and other protected animals: in particular, people from Sardinia were recognized. The hunters of the Balkan state protested for a long time, asking more severe criminal penalties against poaching and a 4-year moratorium for foreigners. Local corruption and various stratagems designed to import the protected fauna have undoubtedly taken care of the illegal situations. Furthermore, often there was a lot of legislative confusion and the clarifications were not up to par. From the month of April that has just begun to September, there are five months left, a rather long period of time that can make it possible to avoid the mistakes made in the past and not to fuel other controversies after those of recent years.