BirdLife Cyprus participated at the Birdfair, the biggest wild life event in the world, for the 3rd consecutive year, which took place on 19 – 21 August 2016 at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve in England. The aim of the Fair is to get birdwatchers together to celebrate birds, to develop a commercial fair for the birdwatching industry and to support international conservation projects.

Attendance was once again impressive and many were the visitors that came by BirdLife Cyprus’ stand to learn more about Cyprus as a unique birdwatching destination, the birdwatching hotspots of the island, its endemic species as well as the work and projects that BirdLife Cyprus is currently involved with.

A CTO representative at the BirdLife Cyprus stand also promoted Cyprus as an alternative holiday destination, informing the visitors about nature trails, traditional accommodation options and Cyprus culture.

Many visitors expressed their concern about the problem of illegal bird trapping in Cyprus and asked to be informed about the recent developments on the subject and about BirdLife Cyprus’ campaign to tackle the problem. A few of them told BirdLife Cyprus that they are not considering Cyprus for holidays due to illegal bird trapping. Illegal bird trapping in Cyprus has an impact on the tourism industry, since many concerned tourists won’t opt to come to Cyprus and will choose a different destination due to the bad image created for the country. According to a study done by the ENGO Terra Cypria the losses in revenue due to the bad reputation created from trapping range between 40 to 100 million euros every year.

BirdLife Cyprus hopes to participate in the next Birdfair on 18 – 20 August 2017 and continue informing its visitors about the unique natural wealth of Cyprus, which makes the island a unique tourist destination, ideal for birdwatching and nature exploration.

BirdLife Cyprus’ participation at the Birdfair was supported by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.