Cyprus needs to do more for wildlife, report says

Cyprus is not doing enough to protect wildlife on the island, according to a report published on Thursday.

The report covered Cyprus and 17 other EU member-states. It was published by four environmental non-governmental orgainisations (NGOs) – BirdLife, the World Wildlife Fund, the European Environmental Bureau and Friends of the Earth Europe – who assessed the state of the implementation of EU Nature Directives.

“For the purposes of this report, NGOs BirdLife Cyprus and Terra Cypria – the Cyprus Conservation Foundation contributed with their expert analysis on 11 evaluation criteria for the implementation of the nature directives in Cyprus,” the group said in a press release.

“With regard to Cyprus, none of the 11 evaluation criteria received positive scores, with the great problem of the inadequate protection and management of the Natura 2000 sites and the lack of action plans for species protection becoming evident once again,” it added.

The report found that although there has been an improvement in examining projects that may adversely affect a protected Natura 2000 site, ‘there are still gaps in the reliability of the studies, the implementation of environmental terms but also their binding nature, with serious threats for nature’.

It cited the case of residential developments in the Sea Caves area in Akamas, as well as the favourable opinion issued on the golf course on the Natura 2000 site ‘Polis – Gialias’ at Limni in Argaka.

The report also sounded the alarm with regard to species’ protection, referring in particular to endangered species such as the Griffon Vulture, threatened by the use of poison-bait in the countryside.

“If this lack of engagement by member-states persists, the rapid decline of biodiversity across Europe is guaranteed. The four NGOs call on the European Commission to hold member states accountable for dragging their feet,” the press release said.

 

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.