By Claire Marshall BBC Environment Correspondent
4 October 2016
The UK authorities in Cyprus are doubling the number of officers targeting illegal songbird trapping on British military territory.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of birds are killed on the bases, mostly sold for food in what has become a multi-million pound black-market trade.
The crime team is being increased from a squad of six to 11.
Conservationists welcomed the move but point out that they must patrol a base that sprawls over 100 square miles.
It's before dawn on Cape Pyla, not far from the party resort of Ayia Napa. A British police unit is scouting for signs of illegal bird poaching.
This is part of "Operation Freedom," a fresh effort by the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) authorities here to stop the trapping and killing of songbirds on British territory.
Despite the expansion in personnel, the area they must cover is massive - a key resting place for millions of migratory birds crossing the Mediterranean.
Read on
4 October 2016
The UK authorities in Cyprus are doubling the number of officers targeting illegal songbird trapping on British military territory.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of birds are killed on the bases, mostly sold for food in what has become a multi-million pound black-market trade.
The crime team is being increased from a squad of six to 11.
Conservationists welcomed the move but point out that they must patrol a base that sprawls over 100 square miles.
It's before dawn on Cape Pyla, not far from the party resort of Ayia Napa. A British police unit is scouting for signs of illegal bird poaching.
This is part of "Operation Freedom," a fresh effort by the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) authorities here to stop the trapping and killing of songbirds on British territory.
Despite the expansion in personnel, the area they must cover is massive - a key resting place for millions of migratory birds crossing the Mediterranean.
Read on
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