The hunting of the grouse also hangs in the balance in Greece, according to what the Game and Fauna Service of Cyprus supports in its announcement.
Read the announcement of the Game and Wildlife Service of Cyprus:
“The Game and Fauna Service informs that on April 19, 2024, the Environment Committee of the European Union organized a conference on the recovery of game birds in the European Union, while in particular the issue of the management of the white tern (a subject of particular concern to Cyprus) was discussed in the European Join. The above meeting is part of the effort to continuously evaluate the status of the species, which is held every year, it is a continuation of the meeting that took place on December 1, 2023, while a new meeting is planned for next June.
During the above meeting, the status of the white-tailed godwit population was evaluated as well as the positions of the Member States, while at the same time a discussion and exchange of views was held regarding the status of the white-tailed godwit and how it will be utilized by the Member States. (All the issues presented at the above meeting as well as the positions of Cyprus can be seen in detail in the “Announcements” link on the website of the Game and Fauna Service).
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The Republic of Cyprus, through the Game and Wildlife Service, submitted its positions regarding the protection and rational management of the wren, which can be seen in the relevant questionnaire and which are summarized below:
1. The restrictions set in Cyprus for the hunting of black grouse were mentioned in order to better manage the species. The restrictions related to harvesting at the national and individual level, in the areas and during the period when the hunting of grouse was allowed, as well as the immediate declaration of harvesting in an application for mobile phones (Artemis Cy) in order to continuously inform the Service about the amount of the total fruiting.
2. The results of the total harvest during the past hunting season were reported, which ranged at 88% of the set limit set by the European Union.
3. The measures taken by our Service to prevent and combat any form of poaching and their results were mentioned.
4. The measures taken and will be taken with the aim of protecting the species and improving the habitats used by the species to maintain and increase the population of the species were noted, such as sowing, installing artificial watering holes, cleaning natural water sources, reducing the use pesticides, the effects of early harvesting on wildlife, protection from illegal interventions in the countryside and the preservation of the traditional mosaic of the Cypriot landscape.
5. The measures taken and taken by the Service to better monitor the population of the species as well as its migration sites were presented.
6. The measures taken by the hunting clubs were mentioned.
Regardless of the above, the European Commission requested:
• the continuation of the ban on hunting in the Member States where the hunting of the white grouse has been banned in recent years (France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc.)
• the ban on the hunting of the white grouse in the countries that grant a hunting license for the white grouse such as Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Malta. At this point, the representatives of the European Commission expressed in the most emphatic way their readiness to proceed by taking legal measures against the countries that will grant a hunting permit for the starling, based on the conditions set by the Birds Directive regarding hunting of a kind.
In addition, the representatives of the European Environment Commission expressed their reservations about the validity of the data obtained from the Artemis Cy application, they also questioned the percentage of hunters who declare the fruiting of the grouse as well as the procedure of immediately banning hunting in the event that the overall fruiting exceed the specified limit. In a private meeting held by the officers of our Service with representatives of the European Commission, it was found that the above reservations stem from statements by organized bodies in Cyprus, both in the Mass Media and Social Networking Media, which invited or let it be understood by the hunters , not to declare the fruiting of the woodpeckers they hunted.
Continuing, the representatives of the committee noted that it is difficult for them to understand the reason why the 2023 tern harvest was smaller than that of 2022, while it appears, from the data presented, that the tern populations in Cyprus in 2023 were significantly higher than those of 2022, while the hunting season was longer by one week.
The representatives of our Service supported the validity of the process and the data obtained through the Artemis Cy application and additionally pointed out that through the information obtained from telematics systems (gps) that the Game and Fauna Service placed on a number of grouse in Cyprus last year, it appears that the starlings that use Cyprus during their migration are not part of the European population but use a very different corridor and are part of the starling population that nests in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, etc.
Also, the officers of our Service, based on all the above, supported the continuation of the hunting of grouse in Cyprus, a position with which FACE (European Federation for Hunting and Wildlife Conservation) agreed and supported after consultation with the Cyprus Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Federation (KOK & DAZ).
Finally, it is noted that the aim and purpose of our Service is to maintain the hunting of the grouse in Cyprus as it is conducted today, i.e. in a limited period and areas and under restrictions on fruiting, both at the national and individual level. It is still the position of our Service that the reason for the reduction of grouse at the European level has nothing to do with the conduct of legal hunting, but is directly related to other factors, mainly the way and the change in land use that stems from the common agricultural policy of the European Union which does not favor the protection and preservation of biodiversity and at the same time is particularly harmful for species such as the starling.”
