No to illegal bird trapping in Cyprus’

BIRDLIFE Cyprus yesterday handed a petition containing over 16,000 signatures, from over 150 countries, to Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, calling for more action against illegal bird trapping.

“The number of signatures gathered by our petition shows how concerned the general public is about bird trapping in Cyprus,” said BirdLife’s Executive Director, Claire Papazoglou, adding that limestick use had increased significantly.

The aim of the petition was not only ‘to push the authorities to take real action’ but to raise public awareness about the illegal activity, which has been on the rise over the last few years.

According to BirdLife’s Martin Hellicar, trapping levels were at their highest last autumn since 2002.

Hellicar said the meeting with Sylikiotis was ‘positive’ in terms of continuing, but also intensifying the crackdown on big organised trappers, and restaurants selling delicacies, such as ambelopoulia.

“We have faith that he will follow through but there is still a long way to go,” said Hellicar.

The bulk of the signatures came from the UK with 5,000, followed by France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, with over 1,000 signatures from each. The petition even transgressed European borders, getting around 700 signatures from the US and Australia with 130. Around 600 people in Cyprus signed.

The electronic petition was set up by BirdLife in September 2011 to coincide with the main autumn trapping season and with the help of BirdLife International the petition was promoted on an international level.

According to BirdLife statistics, hundreds of thousands of birds – especially the sought after ambelopoulia – are killed every year in mist nets and on limesticks. However, the indiscriminate nature of the trapping means that many rare and threatened species are also caught.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.