All across the globe during the second weekend of May, World Migratory Bird Day will be celebrated. Sadly ironic for Cyprus, the Day consists of events
that recognise migratory birds in crisis, which in Cyprus is one of the hottest topics of debate and debacle. BirdLife Cyprus is a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO) that dedicates itself to the conservation of wild birds and their habitats in Cyprus. Whilst BirdLife Cyprus joins in the celebrations, they do so under a cloud, with bird trapping in the news for all the wrong reasons.
The issue of illegal bird trapping has been thrown into sharp focus by the recent vicious attack on visiting CABS activists in the Paralimni area at the end of April as they tried to free birds trapped on limesticks. However the incident has also brought a deeply regrettable reaction from many local leaders and MPs from the trapping heartland of Famagusta in particular. Rather than condemning the attack and calling for a renewed effort to stamp out trapping, which has been on a steep upward rise for the last three years, MPs and others have lined up to condemn the battered activists. Whilst BirdLife Cyprus would never adopt activist tactics, they share in their frustration and outrage at Cyprus’ inability to put an end to the indiscriminate and highly lucrative use of nets and limesticks.
On top of this many of the key habitats for migrant birds in Cyprus remain highly threatened, with state authorities failing to act to protect even sites that have been officially designated as part of the EU network of Natura 2000 sites – priority sites that should be managed for conservation. Paralimni Lake, Oroklini marsh and Akamas are prime examples of this failure.
WMBD is a global initiative to raise awareness for the need to conserve all migratory birds. Every year it focuses on a different topic. This year’s theme ‘Save migratory birds in crisis – every species counts!’ is raising awareness about Globally Threatened migratory birds, with a particular focus on those on the very edge of extinction – the Critically Endangered. While the Blackcaps (Ampelopoulia) Cypriot trappers are after are not currently endangered, the totally indiscriminate nature of nets and limesticks means many threatened birds do regularly fall prey to the trappers.
Around 11% of migratory birds are Globally Threatened or Near Threatened according to BirdLife International on behalf of the IUCN Red List. Of these, 31 are classified as Critically Endangered.
“Without immediate action, many will not be here in ten years’ time. As a key migration stop-over, Cyprus must play a part in conserving migratory birds”, said Clairie Papazoglou, Executive Director of BirdLife Cyprus.