No hunter complaints of activist harassment exist, BirdLife Cyprus says

Local environmenthuntingpoachingTop News No hunter complaints of activist harassment exist, BirdLife Cyprus says 813428686 1631405812355556 312487801243800339 N Relevant News No hunter complaints of activist harassment exist, BirdLife Cyprus says 17 September 2026 Home for Cooperation marks International Day of Peace with talks, walk and music 17 September 2026 Infrastructure exists, political will is missing, Christodoulides says ahead of Erhürman meeting 17 September 2026 newsroom 17 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber BirdLife Cyprus said in a Facebook post that a Parliamentary Environment Committee discussion on alleged harassment of hunters by environmental activists found no such complaints have ever been formally filed, while authorities reported fines of more than €157,000 for illegal trapping in autumn 2025 alone. The discussion comes after BirdLife Cyprus and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), the two organisations most active in exposing and reporting illegal bird trapping in Cyprus, said they were excluded from the Committee’s debate on activist organisations and hunters’ rights. BirdLife said its request to attend and present its views had been rejected, the first time this has happened in its 24 years of work, and both organisations accused ELAM of political manoeuvring aimed at weakening anti-poaching controls. Wednesday’s session itself saw sharp exchanges between parliament members. The head of the Game and Fauna Service, Pantelis Hatzigerou, warned that activists who confront armed hunters in the field risk being shot, while committee chair Linos Papagiannis accused two specific organisations of breaching the Criminal Code and said a record of their activities had been submitted to two justice ministers. AKEL’s Giorgos Loukaidis criticised the committee’s leadership for not inviting the affected groups to defend themselves: “You’re putting the organisations in the dock, but you won’t let them be here to defend themselves.” The Cyprus Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Federation (KOK & DAZ), for its part, said the problem of harassment is not new and that it has raised the issue for years, warning that acts of obstruction or intimidation against people legally exercising their right to hunt create dangerous tensions in the countryside. On poaching, the federation said: “Our position is timeless and clear. We condemn all illegal hunting activity and support the effective enforcement of the law. In a state governed by the rule of law, however, exclusive responsibility for control and law enforcement lies with the Police, the Game and Fauna Service and the competent state authorities. No group and no private individual can substitute for the state.” BirdLife said it had been invited to Wednesday’s committee session only at the last minute, and that the discussion ended up exposing what it called the real issue the committee should be focused on: poaching. According to the organisation, both Cyprus Police and the Game and Fauna Service told the committee that cooperation with citizens, environmental organisations and activists is legitimate and useful for identifying and reporting illegal activity, and that the most significant point made was that no official complaint has been filed with the authorities by hunters over harassment by activists or organisations. By contrast, it said, the Game and Fauna Service reported receiving daily complaints from environmental organisations about illegal trapping and poaching, as well as from citizens, particularly over harassment linked to hunting activity near residential areas. BirdLife added that, based on official data, targeted operations by police and the Game and Fauna Service in autumn 2025 alone led to fines exceeding €157,000 in organised illegal trapping cases, cases it said environmental organisations had been reporting to the authorities for years. It said the relevant services also raised concerns about large-scale trappers who, despite repeated complaints and out-of-court fines, continue operating in the same areas because there are no real consequences. The organisation argued that hunting is a regulated, licensed privilege under law, not a constitutional right, and that a privilege should not become an unlimited right overriding other citizens’ lawful presence in the countryside or their right to observe, record and report suspected illegal activity. It said any proposal for a new offence of “obstruction” or “harassment” of hunters needs extreme caution as a result. BirdLife also criticised what it described as an unsubstantiated accusation during the parliamentary session, made without evidence and without the affected organisation present to respond, saying this was not consistent with an open, democratic parliamentary process. It said that if the discussion showed anything, it is that the problem requiring action is not environmental activism, but environmental crime. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Home for Cooperation marks International Day of Peace with talks, walk and music Infrastructure exists, political will is missing, Christodoulides says ahead of Erhürman meeting Yellow weather warning as storms set to hit Cyprus tonight MEPs vote for stronger EU action on gender inequalities in health Larnaca CID begins taking statements in plasmapheresis probe Things to do on Thursday, September 17 Impoverished by war in Iran, Afghan migrants return to Taliban rule Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.