Brussels , June 27^th, 2007 - The European Commission takes a strong stance against Cyprus ’ failure to protect key habitats for priority bird species and against last month’s controversial decision to allow spring shooting for the first time in 14 years.

The Commission today sent a first warning letter to Cyprus for not complying with the hunting provisions of the Birds Directive. Cyprus breached Community law by allowing spring hunting of Turtle Doves on May 6^th and 9^th.  Like Malta , which has already received a warning on this issue, Cyprus risks being taken to European Court if it does not now ban spring hunting once and for all.  

The official excuse that Turtle Doves were being shot in May for causing “serious damage to cereal crops” is not upheld by analyses of the doves’ diet (composed almost entirely of the seeds of cereal field weeds) and is very unlikely to impress the Commission.   

Nicosia also received a similar “Letter of Formal Notice” from the Commission (representing step one in the opening of a legal infringement procedure) over the failure to designate sufficient Natura 2000[1] areas for birds in Cyprus . Only seven of the 16 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) identified by BirdLife Cyprus have so far been designated as Special Protection Areas (SPAs), as required under the Birds Directive.

All SPAs should have been designated upon accession in May 2004 and the inventory of IBAs – representing the best available evidence on priority bird habitats on the island - should he been adopted as the basis for SPA designation. IBAs such as the Oroklini and Paralimni lakes, Akamas and Diarizos have not been turned into SPAs, leaving priority species such as Black-winged Stilts, Spur-winged Plovers, Long-legged Buzzards and Rollers unprotected. 

“Cyprus must now ensure the ill-advised decision to allow spring shooting last month was a complete one-off, never to be repeated, otherwise we will face being taken to the European Court by the Commission,” said BirdLife Cyprus Manager Martin Hellicar. “The Interior Ministry must now also move swiftly to designate all of our key bird habitats as SPAs, a long overdue action, especially when one considers the imminent threats to many sites from poorly planned developments,” he added .  

Cyprus is not the only EU Member State in hot water over bird protection. The Commission today also decided to take Germany and Poland to the European Court of Justice because of insufficient designation of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) as required by the Birds Directive. It was also decided to send first warning letters on the same issue to eight more countries that joined the EU in 2004.This means that apart from Estonia now all the new Member States from the 2004 round are in legal trouble on bird protection [2].  

Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager at BirdLife International [3] in Brussels states: “We welcome the legal actions announced today as a significant step forward, but regret that so many governments need to be forced to turn their nice words into action. We hope the affected Member States will now speed up their efforts to comply with EU legislation and honour their own commitments to ensure Europe stays on track to reach the 2010 biodiversity target.” 

Together with the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive forms the cornerstone of EU action to address the decline of biodiversity, which in combination with climate change is seen as the most pressing environmental problem of the 21^st century. EU governments have committed to halting the loss of wildlife by 2010, and to implementing its nature legislation.

For further information, please contact:  

Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager of BirdLife International, +32 (0)2 280 08 30  

Martin A. Hellicar, Executive Manager, BirdLife Cyprus , 22 455 072

Notes:  

[1] The Birds Directive and Special Protection Areas: The EU Birds Directive requires
Member States to designate Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds to ensure the survival 
of the EU’s most threatened bird species and migratory birds. SPAs form part of the ‘Natura 
2000’ network of the EU, a modern conservation concept that, on about 18% of the EU’s 
territory, aims to reconcile human activities with nature conservation. Natura 2000 sites are 
not fenced-off areas, but encourage sustainable and nature friendly land-use and business.
The Birds Directive also regulates the hunting of birds, and prohibits shooting birds in spring

[2] All decisions in summary: Germany and Poland are taken to the European Court  
for insufficient SPA designation. Latvia , Lithuania , Czech Republic , Slovakia , Slovenia ,
Hungary , Cyprus and Malta receive a first warning letter from the Commission on 
insufficient SPA designation. Slovakia receives another first warning letter because of 
logging allowed in a protected forest site. Cyprus receives a first warning letter for having 
allowed spring hunting of Turtle Doves.

[3] BirdLife International is a global alliance of national conservation organisations working 
in more than 100 countries and territories. It is the leading authority on the status of birds, 
their habitats and the issues and problems affecting them. Website: www.birdlife.org