Conservation group Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) has urged MPs on parliament’s Environment Committee to reject an agenda item tabled by the far-right ELAM party for an “assessment of the impact” of environmental groups’ activities, ahead of the committee’s Wednesday session.
CABS warned that any restriction on the cooperation between NGOs, Cyprus Police and the Game and Fauna Service would leave wildlife offenders free to operate and would seriously damage the country’s international reputation.
Coordinated operations between gamekeepers, police and NGOs have for years formed the backbone of successful anti-poaching efforts in Cyprus, CABS president Karl-Heinz Kreutzer said, describing the push to restrict this cooperation as “a transparent trap, designed to catch the authorities off guard and leave the field open for those violating wildlife protections.”
CABS’s field monitoring is among the main drivers of wildlife-crime enforcement on the island. Last autumn alone, complaints filed by the organisation led directly to the conviction of 55 poachers and the seizure of 1,621 limesticks, 139 nets and 89 lure devices. A total of 1,286 live birds trapped in nets or stuck to limesticks were freed as a result. In recent weeks, joint operations caught six poachers in the act, resulting in the immediate seizure of firearms and illegal trapping equipment.
CABS is calling on parliament to use the upcoming committee session to formalise and strengthen institutional backing for coordinated anti-poaching operations, ensuring authorities continue to receive the field intelligence needed to protect Cyprus’s natural heritage.
“Instead of weakening law enforcement, parliament must strengthen inspections and actively support closer institutional cooperation between NGOs and police, so that we can protect the natural heritage we all share,” Kreutzer added.
CABS says its international and Cypriot volunteers operate strictly within the legal framework, acting as essential “eyes and ears” for enforcing the EU Birds Directive in Cyprus. The organisation says that giving in to pressure from ELAM and hunting groups would seriously damage Cyprus’s standing abroad and reverse years of progress in tackling wildlife crime.
