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| The horror of lime-trapping |
THE organisation that strives to halt illegal trapping and shooting of birds in the Mediterranean and beyond has provided an update on progress. Although migration times are when volunteer workers for the Bonn-based Komitee gegen den Vogelmord (Committee Against Bird Slaughter) are most active, there is no let-up in winter. This is its latest bulletin.
The bird migration is slowly coming to an end, and our autumn operations are now complete.
However, there is little time to time to rest because now our winter actions get underway.
Cyprus
Our autumn bird protection camp on Cyprus is now complete. In the 85-day campaign since the end of August, we have found and dismantled 1,969 limesticks and 87 nets, and 770 birds have been released directly from illegal traps. The police and wardens have convicted 27 poachers as a result of our field investigations. The numbers are remarkable: it is the longest mission CABS have ever conducted on Cyprus, the number of limesticks is at a historical low (in autumn 2018 it was still 2,596), yet the number of arrests is unusually high (last autumn it was only 16 individuals). But there are not only positive signs: the increased shooting of protected species and the increased use of forbidden decoys in hunting is a cause for concern. The poachers have little room to manoeuvre: The participants for CABS winter bird protection camp are already in the starting blocks - this week we start!
CABS member Jason Gregg made a short video, showing how we shut down a trapping site in Cape Greko National Park https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g2JhWY888A
Germany:
A hunting travel agency based in the town of Dargun (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern district) is offering on its website package tours for goose hunting. For 590€ customers are offered B&B accommodation and "unlimited shooting bags of Greylag, Bean and White-fronted geese". However, this has put at risk the sub-species of Bean geese overwintering here. Taiga Bean Goose (Anser f. fabalis) is globally endangered and the Federal Wildlife Protection Ordinance prohibits the commercial sale of this rare migratory bird (Greylag and White-fronted Geese can be sold).
We have criticised the agency and formally asked the local authorities to take action to protect the Taiga Bean Geese. The federal state of Brandenburg has already shown that this is possible: since earlier this year the Bean Goose is no longer listed as a huntable species. Following our recent press release, the hunting tour operator has now taken Bean Goose hunting out of the programme. Whether the hunting tourists are now really avoiding this species is, unfortunately, considered doubtful.
Europe: New Commissioner for the Environment
It has been confirmed that Virginijus Sinkevicius (pictured), from Lithuania, will be the EU's new Commissioner for the Environment. The 28-year-old is a Green politician and succeeds Karmenu Vella, from Malta, who held the office for five years.
The EU Commission is our most important ally in the fight against poaching and bird hunting in Europe. Brussels is currently working against the widespread hunting for turtle dove, and, in October, it helped us to prevent the reintroduction of bird-trapping in Italy.
We are looking forward to supporting the new Commissioner from Lithuania and hope that with his promising agenda he can assert himself against economic interests and hunting lobbies.
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| Trapped song thrush |
* More about the organisation at www.komitee.de/en/homepage
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