Cyprus’ biodiversity needs to be protected says Animal Party

Cyprus’ “vulnerable biodiversity” needs to be protected, The Animal Party said on Saturday, on the occasion of World Wildlife Day.

“Cyprus is a small island, made up of a small and vulnerable biodiversity, which it is our duty to protect,” the party said in an announcement.

Wildlife, the party said, “is a part of our lives, and is not included in landscaping plans, does not lead to large-scale technical projects, is not imprisoned in zoos, or humiliated at circuses.”

Citing a study, the Animal Party said that 100 to 1,000 species per million are disappearing each year due to the destruction of animal and plant habitats, caused by human intervention in those areas.

Cyprus is home to approximately 30 mammal species, 25 reptiles and amphibians, 370 bird species and 250 fish species while around 6,000 insect species are known to live in various habitats of the island, according to the Department of Forests. The island also hosts approximately 141 endemic plant species.

The World Wildlife Fund has said: “Only 18 percent of the island is covered by its original habitat.

Conversion of forest to pastures, urban development, forest fires and tourism are all causes of habitat loss and continue to be a threat to this ecoregion.”

The Animal Party said that World Wildlife Day is a day for people to think about their responsibilities towards wildlife and its protection. “Unfortunately, poaching, and illegal wildlife trade and the increase in demand for such trade, through the internet, which has taken on bigger dimension, is catastrophic,” the party said.

The party also made mention of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’ statements in 2015 regarding wildlife crime: “Getting serious about wildlife crime means enrolling the support of all sections of society involved in the production and consumption of wildlife products, which are widely used as medicines, food, building materials, furniture, cosmetics, clothing and accessories.”

In December 2013 at the 68th UN General Assembly, March 3 was declared World Wildlife Day in an effort to draw public attention to environmental protection issues.

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.