New bird species are rarely discovered nowadays. Since 2000, five new species are discovered every year on average, most of which in South America.

Slowly but surely days are becoming longer – an undeniable sign that Spring Alive is just round the corner and soon we will be observing the silhouettes of the first migrants in the sky over Europe.

Some 20 recorders covered 36 wetlands (and two coastal sites) across the island as BirdLife Cyprus took part in the 50th International Waterbirds Census (IWC) mid-winter count, which has been organised by Wetlands International since 1967. Some 25,453 birds, of 56 different species were recorded over the weekend of 16-17 January 2016.

Award winning wildlife photographers Pam and Eddy Lane will be giving a talk next Wednesday, 3 February 2016, titled ‘In the Footsteps of Shackleton’, combining images from their two major expeditions to the South Atlantic where they visit the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica and show a variety of habitats, vast landscapes and exceptional wildlife. Among them, sites that polar explorer Ernest Shackleton visited during his epic expedition of 1914 to 1916.

It was with great pleasure that we were informed of the official designation of five Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) by the Administration of the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. The official designation was announced in the SBA gazette on 30 December 2015. The announcement was preceded by a public consultation on the proposals which ended in July 2015. BirdLife Cyprus sent its comments on the draft proposals in June 2015.

The EU Commission has given its final and categorical opinion regarding the proposed derogation for the selective hunting of ambelopoulia, the so called ‘alternative plan’, which the Cyprus Government included unilaterally in the Strategic Plan against illegal bird trapping which was approved last May 2015. According to a newspaper article (2 January 2016), Mr Enrico Brivio, a press officer of the Commission, highlighted that ‘...the Commission is concerned about the inclusion of this ‘alternative plan’, which creates the possibility for granting derogations for bird trapping.This is a measure that cannot be accepted according to the EU legislation...’.

Hundreds of Cypriot citizens and tourists have been flocking to Larnaka Salt Lake the past few weeks to admire the amazing Flamingos that have arrived in Cyprus in their thousands in search of food and shelter. 

BirdLife Cyprus condemns the decision taken by the Ministerial Council on 11th January 2016, on the Akamas issue, which according to press reports includes: 

​BirdLife International published last month a scientific review on illegal bird killing across the Mediterranean region, the first ever comprehensive scientific study to quantify the scale and scope of illegal killing across this region. The results of this study are gruesome and despite the legal protection that is in place in the various countries, an estimated 25 million birds are killed illegally every year.