BirdLife Cyprus sees ‘worrying’ spike in migratory bird killings
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Conservation group BirdLife Cyprus described Wednesday a “worrying improve” in illegal fowl trappings last year, blaming authorities for decreasing fines for killing guarded species.
“This unfortunately will come as no surprise, pursuing a shameful peace of the Cyprus bird-defense law in December 2020,” the team said in a assertion.
It has systematically monitored fowl trapping ranges for the previous 20 many years in the Republic of Cyprus and a British armed service base area on the Mediterranean island.
Its autumn 2021 report showed a huge maximize in trapping concentrations with so-termed “mist nets” within the study places in contrast to 2020.
Autumn is when trappers target migratory birds, specifically Blackcaps and other migrant songbirds.
Late past calendar year, activity making use of mist nets—which are scarcely visible and intended to entangle the birds—was 132 percent better than for autumn 2020.
At Dhekelia, a British base area, mist netting activity confirmed an enhance of 46 per cent from 2020.
Last year’s increase is comparable to the earlier 4 decades but substantially decrease than the peak 2016 trapping season when 2.3 million songbirds ended up killed.
‘Troubling trend’
“These recorded trapping levels amount of money to just over 600,000 birds that may possibly have been illegally trapped and killed in the autumn of 2021 inside of the study locations,” claimed BirdLife Cyprus.
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A “mist web” similiar to individuals employed by trappers to illegally capture migratory birds is demonstrated in a photograph from 2017 at the Uk Sovereign Foundation Region of Dhekelia in Cyprus.
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A Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) caught on a lime stick hen trap, revealed in a photograph released by BirdLife Cyprus on September 27, 2013.
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Poachers have used speakers to play bird seems to catch the attention of and entice migrating Eurasian blackcap birds.
“This troubling expanding pattern in trapping action comes right after a sequence of retrograde steps on a plan stage that despatched a basic concept of decriminalising fowl trapping.”
It claimed fines that have been reduced from 2,000 euros (about $2,200) to 200 euros “are non-deterrent and non-punitive, and evidently not proportionate to the earnings a person would make by illegally offering these birds”.
The illicit trade in migratory birds is approximated at 15 million euros for each yr, though it has been illegal for a long time. Critics blame lax enforcement.
In a letter to the Cyprus authorities last Oct, the European Fee expressed worry and urged Nicosia to annul this law amendment and restore the fines beginning at 2,000 euros.
“The state’s goal must be the protection and conservation of our natural heritage, beginning from re-instating a demanding and deterrent legislation,” claimed the team.
“Cyprus is quite likely to be taken to the EU Court of Justice for the inadequate security of migratory birds, as highlighted in the Commission’s letter.”
Cyprus chook trapping hits record lower, says NGO
© 2022 AFP
Citation:
BirdLife Cyprus sees ‘worrying’ spike in migratory chook killings (2022, February 23)
retrieved 1 March 2022
from https://phys.org/information/2022-02-birdlife-cyprus-spike-migratory-fowl.html
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