Conservation in Cyprus
Cyprus is not that unusual in its attitude to conservation in general in that its natural habitats are being developed and destroyed in order to feed the pocketbooks of business, both big and small. *(To those of you who have visited before, We have to keep changing the text as too many people seem to copy what we write, to put on their travel to Cyprus related websites, so please bear with us.)Not too long ago you did not hear the birds singing, because they were being decimated by lime sticks and shot by hunters. ( yes even the mighty sparrow had its day in the arena.) These were served up in restaurants and private homes as ambelopoulia - yes, mixed small bird. We are now in the situation where it has been made illegal, however that doesn't seem to make much difference. I was in a new take away in Larnaca recently, (October 2007) good food, run by an ex policeman. I was with a foreign acquaintance and was explaining what ambelopoulia was and how it is now illegal, when the proprietor piped up with 'You have to put in the order a few days in advance, but we make quite a lot." I was gob smacked ! My moral high ground robbed me of yet another good eating house, drat.
Nowadays the same thing is happening, but birds are being bred for the hunting season and the swarthy hunters, in full battle dress stalk them intrepidly. The 'Game reserve' signs and 'No hunting zone' notices are used for target practice, and if you collect spent cartridges, just find a No hunting sign and there will be hundreds of them. I know quite a few people who live in the countryside who would love to see the law enforced, but they are too scared to speak up as they know that their pets will be poisoned and their lives will be made a misery, so they just keep quiet.We were driving near the salt lakes on the other side of the airport one day when we saw a pair of black swans. Wow, how privileged we felt to observe theses rare
No, this is not a soldier, this a typically dressed hunter..It is illegal to put down poison now, and so the headman of the village does it on everyone's behalf, after all , who's going to argue with the mayor ?
The rivers, when they run, are being pumped full of any effluence that an upstream factory wants to dispose of, and no one seems to care. That is not to say that no one does care, some people are doing great work in the field and general attitudes are changing, but the question is, is it fast enough before there is little left to save?Unfortunately, those Europeans who live out in the countryside are too often afraid to report environmental abuse because they fear retribution from the perpetrators and their neighbouring villagers. After all, if it is common knowledge that those who 'break the law' are the people who actually control the local village ' government', who do you complain to? Do you love your pets ? Do you want them poisoned in the night? No.
The stories I have heard from people who have reported animals being kept in appalling conditions have so far come to naught. I have yet to be informed of any such animals being removed from their owners and those owners being banned from keeping more animals, do you know better?
Wild Donkeys of the Karpas
These are the wild donkeys of the Karpaz Peninsula which is in Northern Cyprus.
Click to enlargeThese donkeys were in the happy position of being Left alone to breed in peace for a number of years. Not only did their population increase but as you can see from the photos they are the picture of health and happiness.
See the retired domestic donks at the Friends of the Cyprus Donkey
Having said that, awareness is coming, with the next generation. They are the hope of the future. They realise that soon there will be nothing left for them to cherish if they do not act now to change attitudes.
Not too long ago dogs and cats were used as target practice, especially by peoples cars, but now many Cypriot people are beginning to cherish them as pets. Protection societies are getting support for donkeys, cats and dogs. Organisations are going into schools and teaching the kids that animals should be cared for and this is paying off. I have also noticed that many more parents are making an effort not to pass on their fear of dogs, they were taught this by their parents, as in days gone by a dreadful disease called hydadid cyst was prevalent in Cyprus and carried by dogs, one lick and the tiny parasitic creatures which lived in the dogs saliva would be passed to the human. Nasty, slow and lethal. Not surprising that if you saw a dog you crossed the road and/or threw stones at it.
The Akamas is currently a nature reserve and one hopes will remain so, but the debate is raging between conservationists and big business, who wish to develop the area for tourism. So far only one main development has been allowed and allegedly the main shareholder is the person who's responsibility it was to refuse permission. Blatant or what!
The turtles of the Akamas are being exploited by some as a tourist attraction , which could be the end of them, we would ask you please, please if anyone offers to take you to see them, don't go. Look at these pictures instead, and think of how you have helped these vulnerable creatures to survive. The government is doing a good job with the turtles and we hope they will continue to support their protection.
The unpleasant practice of liming still goes on, even though it is illegal since 1974 - they mix the mixture, and go out at night to place sharp sticky spears in trees to impale unsuspecting birds ! All birds are caught this way, owls, hawks, tiny ambelopoulia, (migratory songbirds) a delicacy here which is an important social statement and fetches a high price for a free lunch..
The number of poachers who were actually caught and prosecuted
The total number of cases for poaching on the island for 200 & 2001 was 326, 132 of those involved lime stick or illegal trapping methodsProactt published figures for 2000/2001
A/A
Year
District
Total poaching
cases
Cases involving illegal trapping, netting, liming or use of illegal devices
1
2000
Lefkosia (Nicosia)
52
16
2
Lemessos (Limassol)
50
7
3
Larnaca
62
25
4
Ammochostos (Famagusta)
18
15
5
Paphos
59
13
Total
241
76
1
2001
Lefkosia (Nicosia)
52
9
2
Lemessos (Limassol)
57
10
3
Larnaca
97
53
4
Ammochostos (Famagusta)
50
46
5
Paphos
70
14
Total
326
132
Proact is 'a non-political, independent and voluntary organisation committed to coordinating and monitoring support for selected environmental campaigns in Europe and its periphery; and ultimately, through national and regional coordinators, worldwide. Their prime, but not exclusive concern, is the conservation of birds and their habitats.
We are in favour of trees, those wonderful slow friends who produce the oxygen we all breath, the lungs of the planet, some simile currently with a planet that smokes......
If you can help out with the re-planting of our friends the trees please e-mail; people AT windowoncyprus.comIf you are in favour of saving the rain forests and have anything to put towards this lofty scheme, we decided that the way to save it is to buy it - please see our latest hair brained scheme here.
Spiders and cockroaches
Yes we do have some pretty big spiders and humungous cockroaches in Cyprus, but the cockroaches which are huge are from the fields, they are not the same as domestic cockroaches. In fact they do live in the drains and keep the pipes nice and clean. You may see one crawling up through your plughole but they are more likely to fly in the window.
We have tarantulas and camel spiders, or what we call camel spiders, which look rather like this
picture below. The tarantulas look about the same but are usually quite black. There are certain areas where they are said to live and although you may come across a dead one, you are unlikely to see a live one as they are pretty shy (thank goodness). On moving into a new, old house in Larnaca, I found 2 in the first week. After bagging it under a pot and bribing a local child to take them to a field and release them, we have not seen another in 10 years.
The bats come out at dusk and swoop down for midges and mosquitoes. They play a huge part in keeping the insect population down, so be nice to them. I have never found a bats hiding place during the day yet, even though we seem to have a whole colony of them at the office. The oasis which is the office and MD's home is being pulled down in order to make way for a block of flats and we would just like to show you this oasis in the centre of Larnaca. Home to a small zoo of wildlife.
Eco friendly tours are organised by excursion alternatives and you can visit the Mouflon, and many of the other natural wonders on the island. These treks are highly informative and interesting as well as being environmentally friendly. Click below to learn more and see a description of some of the available tours::
or here or
More pics would be very welcome , as would comments or info.
Please see more here as this page was getting too big.
