Brief overview of CABS spring operations 2020
As "travelling bird conservationists" our regular operations have been particularly affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. No bird protection camp in spring has taken place as we had originally planned. But we can't complain, in fact we are happy about the successes we have still managed to deliver despite the adverse circumstances:
March: Malta operation against Finch trapping
We were very lucky with our Malta operations this year, a team arrived on the island a few days before the border was closed and was able to conduct field investigations unhindered until May. From 9 to 31 March, we were able to document a total of 18 cases of illegal bird-trapping with clap-nets and report them to the authorities, plus two cases of poaching with firearms. Due to the corona crisis, the police were often unable attend, so we do not yet know how many of the bird trappers were subsequently convicted. However, the evidence we have produced will lead to a significant number of criminal proceedings.
April/May: Bonelli's eagle protection on Sicily
The only operation that has taken place almost completely as normal is our Bonelli's eagle nest watch campaign on the Italian island of Sicily. With permits from the authorities, the participants were able to monitor half a dozen nests of the endangered Bonelli's Eagle in conjunction with the nature conservation group "Gruppo Tutela Rapaci". The birds are sought after by animal traders and collectors because they are so notoriously difficult to breed in captivity. Many chicks used to fall into the hands of nest robbers because of this - in spring 2020 not a single nest was touched!
April: Cyprus
Unlike in Italy and Malta, where we were able to carry out successful spring operations despite the adverse conditions, we were only able to organise a minimal presence in Cyprus. In April 2020 a team from BirdLife Cyprus used our information to conduct field investigations of known bird trapping sites in the Famagusta district and caught a poacher red-handed with 11 limesticks.
Only 8 of 69 sites inspected were active - far less than we feared. So the bird trappers also had problems with the restrictions imposed by the authorities.
April/May: Malta monitoring spring hunting
Throughout April and May a CABS team was on duty in Malta during the spring hunting season. Although our volunteer-based spring bird protection was not possible our small staff team did a great job - with 6 poachers convicted they secured more enforcement results than the whole Maltese Environmental Police combined (which convicted just one poacher!). Most of the perpetrators shot at turtle doves protected in the spring - among them is also a notorious well known poacher, whom we tried to bring to court for a very long time (you can see our video here). In May on Malta's neighbouring island Gozo a huge mist-net was seized as a result of our field investigations - it was probably set up for turtle doves.
May: Bird trapping in southern Italy
Despite the curfew in Italy, we managed to coordinate a small operation on the southern Italian island of Ischia without having to be present ourselves. With solid intel we reported to the authorities, the police were able to convict two poachers on the popular holiday island just outside Naples in May: One man had set up snap-traps for whinchats, the other carried shotgun ammunition outside the hunting season. After the police actions, illegal spring hunting on Ischia completely ground to a halt this spring.
May: Actions in Calabria
Even though our actions in Calabria (Southern Italy) were much shorter than planned, we had a good result with four poachers convicted: One man was caught illegally hunting, two offenders had set up nets for goldfinches and one was caught in possession of an illegally kept peregrine falcon.
May: Bird trapping in Lebanon
Unfortunately, our planned spring operation in Lebanon could not take place. However, our partners at Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) and the Middle Eastern Sustainable Hunting Centres Anti-Poaching Unit (MESHC) were able to carry out more than a dozen inspections in April and May and, together with the police, shut down a whole series of bird trapping sites around Barja and Jbel (where we also conducted operations last autumn). Several hundred metres of illegal trapping nets for songbirds such as reed warblers, flycatchers and warblers were dismantled and dozens of birds were freed unharmed.
Online-Bird Protection Camp ORPHEUS
In April 2020 we launched the project ORPHEUS - Online Reporting for Poaching Hotspots in the European Union States. Our first ever online bird protection camp. The participants have searched satellite images from Google Earth for illegal trapping sites in eastern of Spain. In total, more than 200 participants were able to search more than 25,000 square kilometres of land. The results are still being collated and processed, but we can already say that at least 150 previously completely unknown trapping sites were found. They will be checked at our bird protection camp in autumn 2020 and hopefully we will bring the unsuspecting bird trappers to justice! We're very grateful for volunteer support in making this project so successful and without whom the results would not be possible!
Prospects for the autumn operations in 2020
Some restrictions to contain the COVID 19 epidemic will also affect our bird protection camps in the autumn. It is anticipated that autumn operations will comprise of smaller team sizes; because of social distancing measures in accommodation and it is likely that the airlines will offer far fewer flights to the areas of operation. Nevertheless, our strategy will hopefully ensure that the operations in Spain, Italy, Malta and Cyprus, as well as in Lebanon, can take place at least on a smaller scale. You can read more about this here.