Cyprus parliamentary committee to discuss role of activists against illegal bird trapping
In Cyprus, the parliamentary environment committee is due to discuss on Wednesday the role of activists who oppose illegal bird trapping. The initiative for the discussion came from the Elam party, which chairs the committee, Cyprus Mail writes in an editorial.
Elam’s position
The issue was added to the agenda in June, shortly after the new parliament began its work. Initially, it was described as a request to examine the “uncontrolled activity of so-called activists” and the need for measures to counter this phenomenon. According to the publication, other parties changed the title of the discussion topic.
The committee chair, Elam MP Linos Papayiannis, said on radio that he had not invited representatives of the activists because, in his words, their behaviour had “gone beyond what is tolerable and permissible.” He claimed that he did not mean all opponents of poaching, but a certain group which, in his view, seeks a complete ban on hunting. Papayiannis also said that members of this group had reported people who were hunting legally to the authorities and sometimes stood in front of hunters to stop them.
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Fight against illegal trapping
Activists from the international organization Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) arrive in Cyprus in early autumn, during the bird-trapping season for the ambelopoulia dish. As Cyprus Mail notes, they report installed nets and glue sticks to Game Fund officers.
Over the past few days, authorities detained three poachers, dismantled around 30 glue sticks and seized four nets. CABS said its activists released 44 captured protected birds. On Sunday, police reported a fine of 13,000 euros imposed on a poacher.
The Cyprus Mail editorial states that the activists cooperate with the Game Fund in ensuring compliance with the law and had previously received threats of violence from poachers.
