A petition to stop public land at Miżieb and Aħrax from being granted to the hunted lobby FKNK has surpassed 10,000 signatures in just a matter of days.

The petition was the work of Outdoor Recreation and Campaign Association Malta group in response to reports that Prime Minister Robert Abela plans to make hunting lobby FKNK responsible for the public woodland areas, formally turning them into hunting reserves during the spring and autumn hunting seasons.

News of the proposal led to the formation of a coalition of a movement known as Spażji Miftuħa (Open Spaces) which has been campaigning over the past few days to safeguard the woodlands l-Aħrax and Miżieb and its ecological features.

Spearheaded by Moviment Graffitti, 30 local NGOs and pressure groups have since joined the coalition and their cumulative effort has garnered over 10,000 in defence of maintaining the woodlands as public areas.