29th April 2006, Limassol, Cyprus

 

 

Two days before the opening of the 53rd CIC General Assembly, on the initiative of the Working Group Agri-Environmental Measures and the Game Fund Service of Cyprus, a symposium was held on the subject “Landscape management and its impacts on wildlife – opportunities for Cyprus”.

 

In the course of the symposium, agri-environmental schemes featuring wildlife friendly implementation of fallowed areas in Europe, and particularly in Germany, were presented. Furthermore, accounts of experience with the legal aspects of the implementation of such schemes, as well as with scientific monitoring were given.

 

The Cypriot side reported on their experience in these areas. Since economic activities throughout the island will undoubtedly continue to put pressure on numerous and varied habitats, the careful assessment and meaningful regulation of development activities and land use are the only ways to ensure long-term sustainability.

TIME	THEME	SPEAKER
9:00	Arrival of participants
9:15	Welcome speech	Pantelis Hadjigerou, Head of CIC Cyprus Delegation, Director of Game Fund of Cyprus
9:20	Welcome speech	Dieter Schramm, CIC President
9:30	The EU-Agriculture Policy and its Impacts on Wildlife	Hilmar Freiherr v. Münchhausen, Director of the German Wildlife Foundation
1. Wildlife-Friendly Practices in Various European Countries Chairman of the Session: Joachim A. Wadsack
9:50	Agricultural Reform, Cross Compliance and ELER - Effects of the New Support Programme on Agriculture with Particular Regard to Agri-Environmental Measures and Land Set-Aside	Nikolaus Bretschneider-Herrmann, Board Member of the Hunting Association of Hesse
10:10	The Importance of Wildlife Monitoring for Evaluating Measures for Habitat Improvement in Agricultural Landscapes	Dr. Egbert Strauss, Institute of Wildlife Research at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover
10:30	“Habitat Fallow Land” – A Project for Wildlife Friendly Use of Set-Aside in Germany	Joachim A. Wadsack, President of CIC Working Group Agri-Environmental Measures Marcus Börner, German Wildlife Foundation
10:50	Implementation of Set-Aside Management of Farmland – Practice in Germany	Werner Kuhn, Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture
11:20	Set-Aside as a Tool for Improving Farmland as Wildlife Habitat – Results from the Interdisciplinary Project “Habitat Fallow Land”	Jörg Tillmann, Institute of Wildlife Research at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover
11:50	Policy and Management for Agricultural Set-Aside in the United Kingdom	Dr. Richard Potts, President of CIC Commission for Small Game
12:00	Panel Discussion
12:20	Lunch break
2. Opportunities for Cyprus Chairman of the Session: Panicos Panayides
13:30	Integrative Wildlife and Habitat Management: Problems and Sustainable Solutions in Cyprus	Minas Stavrinides & Petros Anayiotos, Game Fund Officers
13:50	Landscape Management and Agriculture – Benefits for Wildlife? The Cyprus Experience	Martin Hellicar, Birdlife-Cyprus Officer
14:10	Wildlife-Friendly Methods for Spatial and Landscape Management in Cyprus	Panicos Panayides, Game Fund Officer
14:30	The experience and Assessment of Agri-Environmental Measures in Cyprus: Past Experience (pros and cons), Cyprus Realities and Practical Suggestions for the Future	Chrystalla Kosta, Officer of Agriculture Department of Agriculture
14:50	Agri-Environmental Schemes and Other Potentials of the New Rural Development Plan (2007 – 2013) for Species Conservation and Wildlife Management in Cyprus	Demitrios Ketonis, MIHort Agricultural Officer Department of Agriculture
15:10	Panel Discussion	Panicos Panayides, Game Fund Officer
15:30	Concluding Remarks and Summary	Hilmar Freiherr v. Münchhausen, Director of the German Wildlife Foundation
15:45	Closing Ceremony	Rudolf Graf Colloredo-Mannsfeld, Vice-President of CIC
16:00	Afternoon: Field trip in the region of Limassol and Lunch
18:00	End of the Symposium

 

 

In the afternoon an excursion led the participants of the symposium into the mountains near Limassol where a number of fields with various seed assortments, planted earlier by the Game Fund Service of Cyprus, were presented. In contrast to Central Europe, whereby such fields are predominantly planted to create cover for small game, in Cyprus these fields serve to provide manly food and water during summer time. The Game Fund Service of Cyprus wants to enlarge the number of such fields in future.