News: Short & sweet / archive
April to June 2025

Unlike this spring, the extremely dry year of 2024 in Sicily offered little chance for the successful breeding and rearing of young ground-nesting birds in wetlands and lagoons.
In the sweltering heat of summer 2024, with temperatures reaching +45°C, up to 50 schoolchildren took the opportunity to tirelessly clear the bird breeding islands we had created in the Pantano Longarini lagoon of vegetation that had grown up, thereby creating perfect breeding habitat conditions for ground-nesting bird species such as the Greater Flamingo, the Stone Curlew, Black-winged Stilt, Little Tern and the Collared Pratincole, which is breeding in the lagoon area for the first time this year.

And, to our great delight, this spring seven species of birds are using them, some of which have become rare, including those that only breed in colonies, such as Greater Flamingos and Little Terns!    

In the coming weeks, we will be able to show schoolchildren the fruits of their hard work last summer, which is perfect for ground-nesting birds, and give them a personal sense of achievement in nature.

Zakynthos (Ionian Islands / Greece) Spring Bird Protection Camp Report
The 3rd year of our Spring Bird Protection Camp on the island of Zakynthos (Greece), organised jointly with the Committee Against Bird Slaughter, will also be remembered as the most painful for the bird conservationists who participated.
 
From their experience over the past two  years, our activists were well prepared  for insults and aggressive hostility from angry hunters, but a physical attack by up to 15 hunters, some of them masked, was a new and not exactly longed-for, and at times bloody, experience. Three of our bird conservationists had to visit the hospital on Zakynthos to have their injuries treated, but were able to leave the same evening.

During the assault by hunters, our bird conservationists were able to capture video evidence with their bodycams which, despite the hunters fleeing the scene of the attack, led to the arrest and temporary three-day detention of four hunters for assault and destruction and theft of equipment. After the first court hearing, all four hunters had to post 3,000 € bail and are not permitted to leave the island until the second court hearing in approximately six months time! 
 
Apart from the unpleasantness, it was gratifying that the news of this incident, and the consequences for the hunters involved, spread like wildfire across the island and thus thoroughly ruined illegal and criminal bird hunting for many hunters, at least for this spring.
 
Results of the Zakynthos Spring Bird Protection Camp (18.04 – 02.05.2025)

• 38 active bird hunting sites located and monitored
• A total of 19 illegal hunters were reported to the authorities
• 3 hunters confronted by our activists fled their hunting hides, leaving behind weapons and hunting equipment
• A further 3 hunters fled on arrival of the police
• For 13 hunters, our bird conservationists filed criminal charges directly with the forest police, presenting video evidence
• 3 weapons, 180 rounds of ammunition and 1 illegal electronic bird caller were confiscated by the police 

Although illegal bird hunting on Zakynthos has been noticeably and measurably curbed this year thanks to our 3rd Bird Protection Camp, there is still a lot of courageous migratory bird rescue and protection work to be done by our bird conservationists in the coming years. This applies in particular to a key region of illegal spring migratory bird hunting on Zakynthos, the Keri peninsula

1. Cyprus Spring Bird Protection Camp Report
Unlike the previous two springs, our hopes for continued low levels of illegal migratory bird hunting in Cyprus were not entirely fulfilled in 2025. There was a flurry of illegal activity at several active migratory bird hunting sites. For the first time in many spring seasons, illegal nets were set up and electronic bird call devices were used to maximise the number of birds caught. This took place not only during the day, but also in the early hours of the morning before sunrise.

But even the petty bird catchers were not entirely idle, and so our bird conservationists had to dismantle illegal limesticks in berry-bearing bushes and trees at several trapping sites or ask the state game warden service for assistance.
It was gratifying that bird poachers were caught red-handed at the three most active bird trapping sites and reported to the authorities.
 
Results of the Cyprus Spring Bird Protection Camp (18.03 – 11.04.2025):
Bird trappers

• 72 illegal trapping sites located and monitored (80*)
•  8 active bird trapping sites identified (7*)
• 56 illegal limesticks dismantled and destroyed (56*)
•  1 illegal mist net dismantled (0*)
•  3 bird trappers caught red-handed, and charges preferred (2*)

(*) Data from 3 weeks of the Spring 2024 Bird Protection Camp operations
 
Before the start of the Easter holidays, the Spring Bird Protection Camp on the Greek island of Zakynthos began. On this island, in spring 2024, our bird conservationists had observed massive illegal bird hunting activities targeting European Turtle Doves, Golden Orioles and European Bee-eaters. This spring, our bird conservationists on Zakynthos are currently confronted with highly aggressive and violent bird hunters.
 
We will report on this in detail in the next few days.