Voltage power lines insulated in bid to protect Bonelli’s eagles

Medium voltage power lines between the communities of Marathounta and Episkopi were insulated as part of LIFE Bonelli Eastmed, a project dedicated to the conservation and protection of the Bonelli’s eagle, the game and fauna service said.

This is the second phase of the specific action, the first being the insulation of six pylons in Dena in March.

One of the project’s objectives is to reduce direct mortality for the specific species, according to its mission statement.

To this end, 24 pylons and power line markers between Marathounta and Episkopi were insulated last week with the EAC’s help, the game and fauna service said on Facebook.

The specific area was chosen through data collected daily from transmitters that have been fitted onto 35 eagles, which record their daily movements and map them out across the topography and geography of the area.

This action was necessary because according to the service, the Bonelli’s eagle is particularly vulnerable to electrocution.

“Electrocution is a very serious threat to this species and the greatest in some countries, which calls for more extensive measures such as this,” the service said, adding that in Cyprus, one eagle that had been fitted with a transmitter was found dead from electrocution in the Mesaoria valley.

Bonelli’s eagle, the only eagle species which breeds in Cyprus, is a strictly protected and endangered species and the fine for killing one is €16,000.

The LIFE Bonelli EastMed programme is a European co-financed project aimed at tackling the most critical threats to the Bonelli’s eagle in Greece and Cyprus. In addition to the Game Fund, organisations from both countries participate.

The project is funded by the LIFE programme, which aims to protect the environment and nature.

The project aims to preserve the Bonelli’s eagle, a protected and endangered species in the Eastern Mediterranean, by implementing actions in 24 protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network in Greece and Cyprus for the period 2018-2023. The ultimate goal is the creation and operation of a network in the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean to make it possible in the long run to protect the species.

The Bonelli’s eagle is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli, who is credited with gathering the type specimen.