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From: Mr G G Barlow
Administrative Secretary
Sovereign Base Areas Administration
Episkopi
British Forces Post Office 53
Tel : 00357 5 963319
Fax : 00357 5 963521
SBA/196
20 December 2001
Thank you for you e-mail of [date] to the Foreign and Defence Secretaries. I have been asked to reply.
You quoted extensively from a letter I wrote to David Conlin, the PROACT coordinator. In that letter, I set out the wide-ranging actions set in hand by the SBA Administration to bear down on the mist-netting trade over the last year. I can do little more than repeat that we have:
- hosted two coordination meetings with senior officials from all the Cypriot departments with an interest in the problem;
- invited wardens from the Republic's Game Service to participate in joint operations with the SBA Police;
- warned local people that mist netters will be sought and prosecuted, through meetings with community leaders, leaflet campaigns and adverts in the press;
- significantly increased the weight and frequency of SBAP anti-mist netting operations and changed the pattern of patrolling in order to secure a much larger number of arrests (as opposed to just seizure of mist nets), including by deploying over 40 officers for major sweeps;
- obtained warrants to enter private property in order to search for mist netting equipment;
- changed our approach to prosecutions in order to obtain much heavier fines against mist netters convicted in the SBA Court (typical fines are now around 700 Cyprus pounds for a first offence, compared to less than 100 Cyprus pounds in the past);
- cooperated with the RSPB Investigations Unit in developing our approach to enforcement; and
- designated wildlife liaison officers in both SBAP divisions and sought to develop links with the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime in the UK, which led to an advisory visit by PC Paul Henery of the Northumbria Police.
You say in your letter that "the SBA authorities seem reluctant to get involved in serious consultation with the Cypriots at any level .. and effective raids against the trappers are not part of a sustained policy." It should be clear from the above that such accusations are not well founded.
This autumn's anti-netting operation in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area involved almost daily SBA Police patrols throughout the season. The large-scale operation filmed by the BBC (at the request of the RSPB) was only one of a series of similar sweeps carried out in cooperation with the Republic's Game Service. Some 588 mistnests were seized this autumn, along with 10 km of electrical cable, over 200 loudspeakers and many other items of equipment. Nine poachers were charged with netting offences and are in the process of being prosecuted through the SBA Court. A similar campaign is planned for the spring migration.
At a recent meeting of the Berne Convention, the British and Cypriot governments were asked to:
- increase the penalties for trapping offences, so that they may become dissuasive;
- increase wardening in areas where birds are illegally caught;
- carry out regular and frequent inspections of restaurants selling protected birds, ensuring prosecution of owners;
- prevent importation of mistnets and prohibit their possession without licence, imposing heavy fines for their illegal possession and use;
- impose strict control of illegal capture, killing, possession, trade, sale and offering for sale of protected birds;
- launch a wide information campaign to the general public on the illegal catching, killing and trade of protected birds, as well as on the need to conserve birds and their habitats.
The SBA Administration is already complying with these requests, in so far as we can. I have to emphasise, however, that we can only deal with one element of the netting trade. Nets are imported to and distributed in the Republic. The retail outlets for birds are also in the Republic. And the people who catch, sell and eat the birds live in the Republic. This means that we can tackle only one element of the trade and that, until the authorities in the Republic are able to control the rest, netting is likely to remain a problem throughout the island.
I hope this is helpful.
Proact comments: This is an unsatisfactory reply for a number of reasons:
1. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence in UK have delegated their replies - and their responsibility - to a civil servant in the SBA administration WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES (the main problem of course is the attitude - or inaction of the Cyprus Government)! The politicians and mandarins in UK must be reminded of their accountability in the matter and we must insist on a direct reply and statement from their ministries in the matter.
2. The same applies to the overall commander of the SBAs, AVM Rimmer and his civil deputy. With due respect to Mr Barlow, those at the top - the decision-makers and those with ultimate responsibility for policy - must be seen to take a stance on this matter. The environmentalists on Cyprus have been similarly ignored by the higher echelons in the past.
3. The statements in Mr Barlows letter are not new; and promise more than they have yet delivered. See our original comments at:
Proact will be replying to the points in Mr Barlow's letter in the New Year - and will provide new draft texts for those who are prepared to help us keep on the pressure. |
