Tales of bird hides
[news item September 2009]
The new bird hide at Parakoila marsh was burnt down
during the winter presumably as a protest by the small group of landowners
at Parakoila who want to opt out of Natura 2000. The hide at the back of
the Kalloni salt-pans had two dead foxes dumped in it also during the
winter. It is not known whether this was simply vandalism or another
protest. If the latter it is probably connected with the attempt by the
forestry authority to designate the area as a no hunting zone, a policy
which we strongly support.
Despite these setbacks the building of bird hides
continues apace. One, promoted by our founder members Erika Meyer and
Lefteris Papafilipou is to be constructed at the Polychnitos salt-pans.
This hide has been designed by bird-watchers and thus will hopefully avoid
the disfunctionality of previous hides. We hear also that one is to be
constructed at the Polychnitos hot springs, another at the Molyvos
reservoir and there is even a rumour of one at Skala Kalloni. We support
the construction of hides as an indication of a growing commitment to
wetland conservation and green tourism. They are not however, of
themselves, a contribution to wetland conservation and should definitely
not be seen as a substitute for it. We still urgently need the completion
of the Plan for the Wetlands and their protection as required by the
Habitats Directive.