Filenews 19 November 2021 - by Pavlos Neophytou
A scientific study by the European Commission based on the decision to fully harmonize Cyprus with the European directive to upgrade the protection status of Passer domesticus [house sparrow] into a protected species.
This is what the President of the Committee on the Environment and President of the Movement of Ecologists, Charalambos Theopemptou, told philenews, when asked to explain the reasoning behind the decision, a day after the adoption of a relevant law by the Plenum of the Parliament. Also, Mr. Theopemptou noted that birds, such as the Spitospourgitis [house sparrow], suffer from the development of cities, because they lose their habitats. At the same time they suffer due to extensive farming, pesticides and the man who hunts them.
For the damage they cause to growers
Asked to respond to farmers who refer to the damage caused by this species to crops, Mr. Theopemptou said that this issue was also raised in a debate in the House Environment Committee. "They may do damage to farmers, but here the government should consider aid measures for this part, which was discussed in the Commission and I also mentioned yesterday in plenary," he added.
Finally, Mr. Theopemptoy called on citizens to understand that birds are "lost" from the sky, something that can be confirmed, he stressed,by people of older ages. "I remember when I was a kid there were a lot of birds in the sky, not like now," he added.
