BirdLife Cyprus called on the new President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides to keep his election promises over combatting illegal bird trapping.
In a press release on Tuesday, accompanying its latest report, BirdLife said that recorded cases of bird trapping with nets almost halved in autumn 2022 compared to autumn 2021, decreasing by 49%.
Furthermore, according to the report, trapping with nets in Cyprus has decreased by 91% since 2002.
The decrease is recorded both within the British Bases in Dhekelia and in the Republic, BirdLife explains and attributes it to the collaboration between environmental organisations (BirdLife Cyprus, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter) and the competent authorities.
“The imposing of high fines – starting from €2000 – for the trapping of birds with the use of nets has also helped,” Birdlife says.
Despite the reduction, thousands of birds continue to be illegally trapped and killed every year. More specifically, in autumn 2022 alone it is estimated that 345,000 birds could have been trapped and killed within the survey areas covered by BirdLife Cyprus’ monitoring programme.
“The problem persists in certain areas within the Republic, where large-scale organized trappers continue unhindered in the absence of the effective action of the Cyprus police anti-poaching unit, which was inexcusably disbanded in November 2019,” BirdLife stresses.
Moreover, the reduction in fines from €2000 to €200 for the killing of up to 50 birds using limesticks, “making penalties neither punitive nor deterrent, has indirectly decriminalised this trapping method and has resulted in an increase in limestick use the last few years,” BirdLife notes.
Concluding, the organisation calls on the new President Nikos Christodoulides to see through his pre-election commitment and reinstate the police anti-poaching unit, as well as to annul the law relaxation and increase the fines to €2000 for all birds, regardless of the killing method or bird species.
“Only then will Cyprus be able to deliver the final blow to the scourge of illegal bird trapping,” BirdLife said.
