{"id":59039,"date":"2026-07-21T14:22:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=59039"},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:22:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:22:54","slug":"new-head-for-the-wild-birds-regulation-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/21\/new-head-for-the-wild-birds-regulation-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"New Head for the Wild Birds Regulation Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ministry for Gozo has announced the appointment of Kevin Francica as the new Head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU). Mr Francica has over 36 years of experience in the public service and extensive knowledge of the hunting and trapping sector. The WBRU is the Unit responsible for the administration and regulation of this sector, including the implementation of Government policy and coordination with stakeholders to ensure that the sector is managed in accordance with national laws and international obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kevin Francica began his career in the Customs Department in 1989 and over the years has served in various leadership positions within different Government entities. Among the positions he has held are those of Director for International Affairs, Policy Development and Implementation in the Customs Department, Director General (Compliance &amp; Investigations) within the Ministry for Health, and Director General (Corporate Services &amp; IT) within the Malta Revenue and Customs Administration. He graduated with a Master of Science in Management and holds various other qualifications related to leadership, governance and public administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his new position, Mr Francica will lead the Wild Birds Regulation Unit while continuing to strengthen the Unit&#8217;s administrative efficiency and address sector-related priorities. This appointment forms part of the renewal process within the Ministry for Gozo and its subordinate entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the WBRU&#8217;s main priorities over the coming period are the continuation of work on the legislative framework that regulates the sector, the simplification of administrative procedures and the strengthening of research programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ministry for Gozo thanks the former Head of the WBRU, Richard Lia, for the work and service he has given to the Unit over the past few years, and wishes Kevin Francica every success in his new position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo: MFG<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div><p id=\"pvc_stats_59039\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"59039\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p><div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ministry for Gozo has announced the appointment of Kevin Francica as the new Head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU). Mr Francica has over 36 years of experience in the public service and extensive knowledge of the hunting and trapping sector. The WBRU is the Unit responsible for the administration and regulation of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_59039\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"59039\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984-150x120.jpeg",150,120,true],"medium":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"medium_large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_0x420":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_80x60":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984-80x60.jpeg",80,60,true],"td_218x150":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984-218x150.jpeg",218,150,true],"td_324x400":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_696x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_1068x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_100x70":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984-100x70.jpeg",100,70,true],"td_265x198":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-247x198.jpeg",247,198,true],"td_324x160":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984-247x160.jpeg",247,160,true],"td_324x235":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-247x235.jpeg",247,235,true],"td_356x220":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-247x220.jpeg",247,220,true],"td_356x364":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_533x261":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-247x261.jpeg",247,261,true],"td_534x462":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_696x385":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_741x486":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false],"td_1068x580":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PR261226a-e1784640157984.jpeg",247,197,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bernard Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Ministry for Gozo has announced the appointment of Kevin Francica as the new Head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU). Mr Francica has over 36 years of experience in the public service and extensive knowledge of the hunting and trapping sector. The WBRU is the Unit responsible for the administration and regulation of&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59042,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59039\/revisions\/59042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}