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By Alexia Saoulli
The Government Game and Wildlife Service and the British Bases are stepping up measures to stamp out illegal poaching and bird trapping, officials insisted yesterday.
The assurance came after the Council of Europe formally urged the government and British Bases to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of migratory birds - "prohibiting all forms of deliberate capture and keeping, deliberate killing, as well as the possession and internal trade in these animals, alive or dead."
The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats accused Cyprus of mass extermination of migratory birds, and among other things strongly suggested that those found guilty of the activity should be prosecuted, and that more wardens should patrol popular bird trapping areas, making poaching harder.
But the Head of the Game and Wildlife Service at the Interior Ministry, Pantelis Hadjigerou, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the Bern Convention recommendations had been part of Cyprus law since 1974. However, he did admit the Service had not enforced the law rigorously until 1995.
He explained this was because it had taken a long time to drive home the message, as the capture and consumption of ambelopoulia (Black-Cup birds) - a prized delicacy - was a tradition that dated back centuries.
"As far as prosecutions are concerned," Hadjigerou said, "we have been doing so more and more." He cited 319 separate prosecutions in 2001, compared to 241 in 2000. These prosecutions also included the confiscation of nets, lime sticks and taped birdsong sound devices.
He said sentences varied from a fine of a few pounds to jail, depending on each individual case. And he gave an example of a poacher who had been jailed for 45 days in the past.
"The illegal bird-bird trapping has not stopped," he admitted, "but we are taking a much stronger stand, and even arrested a Nicosia supermarket owner for selling ambelopoulia this week, as well as his Paralimni supplier." He added that he hoped the situation would be greatly improved by the end of 2002.
If the Service is not able to accomplish this task by then, the Council of Europe has warned the government it will open a file on Cyprus keeping track of its moves.
But Hadjigerou and another game warden, Panicos Panayides, insisted the Service would be taking an even stronger stand this year, and that they were employing another 10 wardens to increase patrols in the problem areas of Famagusta and Larnaca.
At the moment, there are 100 game wardens working nationally all year round, 24-hours a day - a figure Panayides said was insufficient.
But Hadjigerou insisted that, based on experience and depending on the season, they knew where to focus their efforts.
"In fact, in recent years, we also co-operate more with the SBA (Sovereign Bases Area) police, and game wardens have been appointed to the area. Now, they work together, and help each other combat this problem," he said.
A Bases spokesman confirmed: "Stringent efforts are being made (by SBA police) to clamp down on this illegal activity."
He said equipment was confiscated all the time, and arrests were being made.
"It's very difficult actually to arrest someone for poaching, as you've got to catch them in the act," he said, adding there was no doubt the poachers were being hit in the pocket by the repeated confiscation of their expensive bird-trapping equipment.
However, on Thursday, Green Party deputy George Perdikis accused politicians and deputies at the House Plenum of telling game wardens to overlook a number of poaching activities and to lay off some of their measures.
The deputy asked how else it was "possible that in the Famagusta district only 15 cases of illegal bird trapping have been prosecuted".
However, Panayides said Perdikis must be mistaken in his figures, for he knew that, in the Famagusta district in particular, far more prosecutions had been made.
"We find poachers and report them to the police. After that, it's beyond our control," he said, insisting the Service carried out its duties with a clear conscience.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
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