With the new House of Representatives taking office following last week's elections, BirdLife Cyprus has called on MPs to treat the protection of nature as a first-order political priority, warning that Cyprus faces serious and unresolved failures in environmental enforcement across several fronts.
The organisation's appeal covers four distinct areas: the Akamas National Forest Park, the Akrotiri wetlands, illegal bird trapping, and three open European Commission infringement cases against Cyprus for breaches of EU nature law.
On Akamas, BirdLife Cyprus says that nearly two and a half years after construction works began inside the national forest park, a Natura 2000 site of high ecological value, the area remains an open construction site where violations have been recorded but gone without consequence, and government commitments remain unfulfilled. The organisation says the lack of transparency and the absence of meaningful environmental remediation undermine the credibility of the state itself when it comes to enforcing the laws it has enacted. It is calling on the new parliament to demand full compliance with the legally binding environmental conditions of the Akamas National Forest Park and accountability for the violations already on record.
At Akrotiri, BirdLife Cyprus has documented serious incidents of degradation at the peninsula's wetland complex, which is of international importance for migratory birds and is one of the most significant wetlands in the Eastern Mediterranean. The organisation reports signs of pollution, uncontrolled water inflows and serious disruption to the natural hydrological regime of the wetlands, compounded by development pressures in the wider area. It is asking the new parliament to demand immediate investigation, restoration of the natural water regime and effective protection against further degradation.
On illegal bird trapping, BirdLife Cyprus says its systematic monitoring programme recorded approximately 726,000 birds illegally trapped and killed in autumn 2025. Despite periodic enforcement operations, organised trapping networks continue to operate without meaningful disruption. The organisation argues the data shows clearly that where targeted, zero-tolerance enforcement is applied, trapping levels fall significantly, proving the problem is one of political will and legal application rather than an absence of tools. It is calling for the reinstatement of deterrent fines for the use of limesticks and for the illegal shooting of migratory birds, along with strengthened controls and a serious effort to dismantle organised trapping networks.
The broader legal picture is stark. The European Commission has referred Cyprus to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to establish the necessary conservation measures for 28 of its 37 Special Areas of Conservation, with conservation objectives for five of those sites also deemed insufficient. A separate infringement case concerns inadequate designation of Natura 2000 sites, with significant habitats and species still lacking proper protection. A third open case involves what the EU has identified as a systematic and persistent practice of approving projects near or within Natura 2000 areas without the environmental assessments required under the Habitats Directive. BirdLife Cyprus cites the case of Pentakomo, where a port was authorised to serve the aquaculture sector in an area used by the Mediterranean monk seal, without an adequate environmental impact assessment, despite the potential effects on a proposed protected area and on the species and habitats present.
The organisation says these three cases demonstrate that the problems are not isolated incidents but systemic weaknesses in the application of environmental law and the protection and management of protected areas. It is calling on the new parliament to ensure Cyprus meets its Natura 2000 obligations, strengthen transparency and accountability in environmental licensing, prevent further weakening of environmental legislation and provide meaningful support for the fight against illegal trapping.
"The new parliament will be judged in part by whether it protects Cyprus's natural heritage and ensures that environmental laws are applied in practice and not only on paper," BirdLife Cyprus said.
