British minister defends bases bird trapping crackdown

Minister of State for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster said on Wednesday that tackling illegal bird trapping was one of the British bases’ top priorities.

Lancaster was at the House of Commons to answer questions submitted in writing by a number of MPs on illegal bird trapping within the British bases territory in Cyprus.

Responding to a question of MP Michelle Donelan, Lancaster said that the bases’ police are using all legal means to target people involved in illegal bird trapping. Last year, he said, the bases prosecuted 78 people, while it carried out 39 major net removal operations which will be continued with the use of drones.

He added that the bases’ court in Dekelia issues fines to 14 poachers and suspended prison sentences to six of them.

On the questions from MPs Deidre Brock and Madeleine Moon, Lancaster said that measures are being taken to reduce the number of acacia bushes used by poachers to set their nets, either by cutting them down or removing irrigation pipes.

Last month the British bases pledged to detect, deter and disrupt the activity of illegal trappers and revealed new drone technology to help fight crime, including illegal bird trapping.

This year alone, the British bases have destroyed kilometres of irrigation pipes used to water acacia bushes planted with the sole purpose of trapping birds.

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.