“It is well-documented that migrant birds are already being hit hard by the combined effects of Climate Change and habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. The growing illegal trapping is an added pressure this precious portion of biodiversity can ill-afford to bear,” said BirdLife Cyprus’ Campaigns Manager Martin Hellicar.

BirdLife Cyprus has been conducting systematic field monitoring of illegal bird trapping for eight straight years now, in close cooperation with the relevant enforcement bodies and with the active support of the UK BirdLife partner (RSPB). While the problem has been significantly reduced since the 1990s, trappers have been making a definite comeback over the past three years. Evidence from the September and October 2009 surveys points clearly to a rise in trapping activity this autumn past – an alarming one in the case of mist netting. The total of just over 3 km of active net rides (areas being used for setting of mist nets) located by the survey team represents a 35% increase on the autumn of 2008. Surveillance focuses on the trapping ‘hot-beds’ of the Famagusta and Larnaca districts and it is estimated that, in total, these areas held over 9 km of active net rides during autumn 2009. “Hundreds of thousands of birds will have fallen prey to trappers in autumn of 2009 - an unacceptable toll,” Hellicar said.

Netting levels were particularly high in the Dhekelia British Base (SBA) area, notably on the Pyla Range.  “A combined SBA Police and British-army sweep operation in this area on October 2nd was a welcome first step in tackling what is effectively industrial level trapping on the Range, but needs this decisive action needs to be repeated till this persistent problem is dealt with,” said the BirdLife Campaigns Manager.

Limestick use was also up in autumn 2009, and was largely the preserve of the Republic areas. In one striking instance, a Larnaca area villager arrested and charged following a BirdLife tip-off, with almost 1,000 limesticks in his back yard “factory”, was back making glue sticks in his garden two days after his arrest! In keeping with the pattern of recent years, there was widespread evidence of many restaurants in the Republic serving illegal bird delicacies (ambelopoulia). BirdLife received no reports of effective enforcement action against these law-breaking establishments, which provide the main financial incentive for trapping.

BirdLife is calling for urgent top-level political decisions to re-double the enforcement effort by finally clamping down on offending restaurants and by bolstering the enforcement bodies (Game Fund, Cyprus Police anti-trapping unit and SBA Police) tasked with tackling increasingly organised and often dangerous trappers. “Only then can the backsliding witnessed since 2007 - which threatens to undermine the significant enforcement gains made since the start of the 21st century - be arrested and reversed,” said Hellicar.