Who We Are
The Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature is a non-governmental organization whose purpose is to protect and conserve the birds and nature of Cyprus.
ABOUT US
The Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature (KUŞKOR), has been active since 1988, and strives to protect birds and their habitats in North Cyprus through education, research, monitoring and lobbying.
We work hard to protect and conserve the breeding and migrant bird populations of North Cyprus at a time when natural habitat is dwindling through human development and the numbers of birds are depleting due to hunting, poisoning, changes in land use and climate change.
HISTORY
The Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature (KUŞKOR) was established in 1988 by Asuman Kuyucu, Harry Sigg and Ertuğrul Akçaoğlu.
It started with the distribution of a book called “World of the Birds” supplied by the Turkish branch of the World Wildlife Fund to Primary School students and the fostering of bird watching amongst the members of the Green Action Group and Cyprus Art Association.
Having determined that education was paramount to the aim of wildlife conservation, KUŞKOR embarked on a year-long project in 1989 with the cooperation of the Green Action Group. The project scope included:
• Educational slide shows on the lives of birds in all North Cyprus primary schools.
• Public bird watching events to raise awareness in the wider community.
• Photographic exhibitions and slide shows at city centres and primary schools
• The distribution of conservation related information leaflets.
• Interviews with hunters to provide statistical research on the species being hunted.
In 1990 a further Educational Project was undertaken with the help of Alev Ören. The project included bird watching trips for secondary school students, slide shows and poster hangings in village coffee shops about poisoning of vultures, trapping blackcaps and production of stickers to draw attention to migratory birds.
Requests for posters came from those villages that had not yet received them and soon KUŞKOR posters decorated the walls of restaurants and village coffee houses all over North Cyprus.
Cautionary press releases were prepared for every hunting season and unauthorized hunters were reported in order to promote awareness of bird conservation issues. While monthly public bird watching continued, members’ personal observation records were collected and collated into a report which was distributed. The local press and Ministry of Environment were informed about the events on a regular basis. The then TRNC President of the Assembly Hakkı Atun and Presidency Consultant Ergün Olgun even took part in bird watching trips!
In 1991 a Bird Conservation Priorities in North Cyprus Report was compiled and published detailing hunting observations. This work also included bird observation records from some of the wetlands.
KUŞKOR printed its annual observation report, compiling the observation records of the members and with the contribution and field observations largely provided by Peter Flint. The reports called “North Cyprus Bird Report” were published in the years of 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, for four years and in April 2001 a Ringing Report called “KUŞKOR Ringing Scheme Expedition Report” was prepared. However, thereafter there was a lull in the capacity and activities of the organisation.
In 2007 KUŞKOR established the first annual monitoring of the threatened Audouin’s Gulls Larus audouinii at the only colony on the island and the World’s most Easterly colony on the remote Kleides islets. The project continues almost a decade on has alerted us to the continuing decline of this colony, in response to which we worked with the authorities to ban landings on the island and funded the installation of signage alerting people of the gulls and the laws against disturbing them.
Between 2007 and 2009 with funding from the German bird conservation group NABU we undertook limited one-off surveys in the Karpaz area to determine the extent of illegal trapping. Trappers targeting black caps using lime sticks and mist nets were encountered. Trapping and other illegal bird killing is regularly reported and further, more detailed surveys are required.
In 2010 and 2011 we secured EU funding to map out bird conservation areas under the Birdlife International Important Bird Area (IBA) scheme. Intensive field surveys were undertaken over two seasons and the data were presented to Birdlife. This resulted in the designation of 6 IBAs (4 of them new) in 2014. The data and site boundaries were made available to the North Cyprus authorities and to the EU. We have liaised with both of these organisations on the boundaries of potential EU Natura 2000 Special Environment Protection Area (SEPA), and buffer zones around key wetlands in order to mitigate the impact of human activities on birds in these areas.
During this period we also secured funds from United States Agency for International Development to provide optical gear, some research equipment and a huge nature library, which has since been well used by members and by school groups.
In 2011 we established long term monitoring of Bonelli’s eagles, the only remaining large raptor in North Cyprus that has not succumb to poisoning and persecution, and our flagship for raptor conservation. This work has been supported by Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME).
In 2014 we began a project with EU to improve Kukla reservoir in the Mesaoria Plain IBA. Signage, hides and screening will provide for improved birding whilst minimising disturbance of birdwatchers and bringing tangible ecotourism into a Turkish Cypriot village, currently way off the tourism map.
In 2015 we secured OSME funds to encourage European Roller in the Mesaoria Plain and Haspolat IBAs through a nest box scheme.
The KUŞKOR ringing scheme continues to be active and in 2015 KUŞKOR became a member of the European Union for Bird Ringing (EURING).
For details of all of our recent projects see Publications/Projects.
AREA OF ACTIVITY
Education and Awareness
KUŞKOR is actively organising educational seminars for particular interest groups and school children. These lectures are on the topics of wildlife, mainly birds, natural environment, ecology and threats. KUŞKOR has a well-stocked nature library of over 600 books called Cyprus Nature Library which is open for use by local school groups and its members.
We raise awareness and distribute information to the public through our newsletters and our facebook page which currently has >1100 members. We also launch press releases periodically to promote our projects and to draw public attention to concerning issues.
We organize and guide monthly field trips. Ten to twenty five people attend to our trips during which they gain and share experiences of sites, bird distributions and identification skills. You can learn about these trips from our events page.
Research and Monitoring
KUŞKOR’s ringing scheme (EURING code CYK) uses rings with distinct lables (North Cyprus KUSKOR) and we ring over 100 birds annually as part of our ornithological studies (see publications).
Since 2011 KUŞKOR has encouraged locals and visitors to North Cyprus to share sightings data on its online forum. This has yielded a lot of data and improved our knowledge of bird distribution and the relative importance of various sites. Soon this function will be replaced by an online database. However, we still encourage use of the forum for its other purposes such as debate on species ID and sharing of information on birds in North Cyprus.
In 2007 KUŞKOR established the first annual monitoring of the threatened Audouin’s Gulls Larus audouinii at the World’s most Easterly colony on the remote Kleides islets. The project has alerted us to the continuing decline of this colony.
In 2011 KUSKOR established a long term research and monitoring scheme for the Bonelli’s Eagle nest sites in North Cyprus and we are grateful to the Ornithological Society of the Middle East for supporting this work. See Projects and Publications.
Our monthly field trips provide a minimum baseline for our surveys and checks on the status of important habitats whilst encouraging our members and guests to get out in the field and to report birds independently.
Law
KUŞKOR works with relevant authorities to ensure that current environmental laws and regulations are enforced and to towards the development of legislation to best protect birds and habitats according to the data that it gathers. In 2014 our lobbying resulted in the establishment of law preventing landing on the Kleides islets, Karpaz Peninsula, in order to protect our nesting Audouin’s Gulls.
Photography
Many of our members are photographers and we recognise the growing importance of wildlife photography in birding both for accurately recording species and as an alternative past time to hunting. In recent years we secured funds from the North Cyprus Ministry for Tourism and exhibited over 200 photographs from local photographers of birds and other wildlife during 2 day exhibition events at Bellapais Abby in Kyrenia. Each year we invite photographers to submit their work for publication in our annual calendar and we distribute 500-1000 calendars per year collecting donations to support our work. Many thanks to everyone who are volunteering in preparation and distribution of these calendars.
Collaboration
We are a part of the Environment Platform of North Cyprus which is tackling current vital problems through lobbying. And we work in collaboration with other environmental groups, such as the Society for Protection of Turtles, towards the protection of areas of natural beauty and the flora and fauna of North Cyprus. We have worked with the European Union and Birdlife International towards revising and designating Important Bird Areas for North Cyprus.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The organisation’s main aims are:
- To protect the birds of North Cyprus and their habitats
- To halt the excessive killing of birds, particularly indiscriminate killing or killing of species of conservation concern
- To inform the public on issues impacting birds, their habitats and nature
- To educate youth groups in the importance of birds, nature and their conservation through school classes and field trips and through liaising with and advising the Local authorities on curricula
- To ensure that current environmental laws and regulations are enforced and to work with Local authorities towards the development of legislation to best protect and provide for birds and nature
- To encourage and bring together people who are interested in birds and nature
- To promote the observation, study and publication of the subject of birds and nature in North Cyprus both through academic and citizen based research
Meet the Members of the Committee
Have a look at who's who in the current Committe of the Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature
Sadık Azimli
He was born in 1961 in Küçük Kaymaklı. He is a primary school teacher. He is interested in diving, photography and nature. His hobbies are mostly generated around birds which includes ornito-photography, bird-watching and recording videos of birds; in addition to limited prospects of macro and landscape photography. He tries to be in nature as much as he can where he relaxes and enjoys his life. While he is out in the nature he tries to photograph anything that arouses his interest. He recommends everyone a hobby like this in order to clear their minds and to be able to live a stress-free life.
Robin T.E. Snape
During his BSc Zoology and MSc Environmental Biology (Swansea University) he volunteered with Exeter University’s Marine Turtle Research Group of which he has since been an active member.
During 2005-2008 he worked for the UK Natural Environment Research Council’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS) as a Zoological Field Assistant at Bird Island, South Georgia where for two and a half consecutive years he monitored colonies of endangered seabirds including albatrosses, burrowing petrels and prions. Here he learned a suit of research techniques and he became overall station manager during the austral winter of 2007.
He then hopped between contracts in North Cyprus and on South Georgia until he began a part-time PhD at University of Exeter examining east Mediterranean artisanal fisheries and their interaction with marine turtles and dolphins. To support this he now continues to manage the Marine Turtle Conservation Project, has acquired grant support from multiple sources, undertook consultancy work in Liberia and has established a private bird-guiding enterprise.
He has lived permanently in North Cyprus since May 2009.
Olkan Ergüler
Born in 1977, London into a Turkish Cypriot family. Moved to Cyprus when he was 12 and fulfilled his education years until 2001 where he graduated from Radio, TV and Film Studies at Eastern Mediterranean University. During his years at university, he also worked part time at BRTK as Live Radio Show presenter and TV Broadcasting director for the Foreign Language Broadcast department, Bayrak International and BRT 2. He moved backed to London in 2001 where he worked on various TV and Film productions. By 2003 he moved on to set up his own freelance photography business and built a clientele in the real estate industry and worked in high street photographic labs and studios and began shooting weddings. In 2007, by now among a family of three, he moved to Cyprus where he continued with freelance photography, most of the work load being weddings BUT also using his skills to build an online media network based on promoting North Cyprus and tourism. Since then, he has rekindled his love for nature and wildlife as he is now closer than ever before to the outdoor world of Cyprus; he got himself involved with Birds, Wild flowers, Butterflies, Reptiles, Sea turtles and all things nature and made friends which helped sway him into conservation. He strongly believes that “if you want to see and document beauty, you must learn to conserve it.”
Gavin Hugh Croucher - Representative
Born 1954 Hampshire UK, Civil Servant 1973 - 1996, Civil Service Careers Representative UK Cabinet Office 1978 - 1984 UK Govt. Computer Projects 1984 1996 . Principal Systems Developer Vodafone 1996 - 2005 Retired. Studied Computer Science at Napier University Edinburgh. Married to Eileen and has two children currently at University. Passionate about wildlife conservation, music, food and wine.
Ersan Korudağ
He was born in Cyprus in 1955. In 1979 he graduated from Ankara University Veterinary Faculty. In 1980 he initiated his work at Cyprus Turkish Veterinary Services and later received his masters degree in Microbiology at the Ankara University Veterinary Faculty. After his first 5 years as a clinician, he was appointed as chief of the microbiology laboratory. In time he was assigned as Chief Veterinary Officer untill he retired in 2011.
Throughout his career he attended a wide range of short term trainings and activities abroad including in UK, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, and USA. He contributed in the preparation and implementation of a lot of different projects in Veterinary domain, including the bi-communal Mouflon Conservation Project run through 2003 - 2005. He was in charge of the harmonization process of local Veterinary legislation with EU.
He was an active committee member of the Cyprus Turkish Veterinary Medical Association and Cyprus Turkish Veterinary Union for a long time, including his Cyprus Turkish Veterinary Medical Association presidency from 1997 till 2002. And he is still a member of these occupational bodies. He is also a member of the North Cyprus Society for the Protection of Animals (NCPA), where he has also been vice-president for three years. Currently he is vice-president of the Animal Welfare Committee and Society of Organic Life and Agriculture (ORYAD). He is a free-lance agriculture and animal husbandry consultant.
He is a keen nature lover, especially interested in bird and nature photography.
He is married with two children.
Damla Beton
Growing up in a small island, experiencing very hot and dry summers versus blooming and sunny winter and springs, she has always been fascinated by nature. This caused her interest in biology and ecology in time. Consequently, she graduated from biology in 2001 Hacettepe University and did her PhD in macroecology using GIS and distribution modelling software in 2011 in Middle East Technical University.
She has always been very enthusiastic in field studies. She has been doing fieldwork voluntarily and professionally since 1998. Damla strives to take every opportunity to increase her experience and knowledge on different aspects of ecology. Consequently, she has a range of experiences with many different taxa, in a variety of habitats, employing many different techniques. Mean while, she gradually built up her knowledge about Civil Society Organizations, their management and role in conservation.
During all these years she has been a keen birdwatcher, looking out for and recording birds at each opportunity. As a result, in 2010 she got a job as scientific officer in an EU funded project called “All-Cyprus IBAs Project” run by KUSKOR. Through this contract she came to know the birds of Cyprus exceptionally well. She still continues to volunteer and professionally work for KUŞKOR.
Birtan Gökeri
Born in 1961 in Karaağaç-Pelathousa village of Baf and ived in Poli until he was 13. Following the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation he moved to North Cyprus and settled in Güzelyurt-Omorfo/Morphou with his family. After finishing high school he graduated from Turkish Teacher Training College and initiated his life as a teacher. He has been teaching for more than 30 years. He is married with 3 children.
He was a hunter for many years, till he quit it because of my particular interest in birds. At first he started shooting videos of birds which evolved into a mixture of bird-watchig and bird photography through last decade. He observed 252 bird species in Cyprus up till now. He is the owner of the first record of Crimson-winged Finch which he observed in Sadrazamköy on 27th of November, 2010. Some of his most valuable records and photos belongs to Crimson-winged finch, Striated Heron, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Great-crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Yelkauan Shearwater, European Gannet, White-fronted Geese, Tufted Duck, Goosander, White-headed Duck, Black Kite, Griffon Vulture, Bonelli’s Eagle, Osprey, Lesser Kestrel, Merlin, Black-winged Pratincole, Temminck’s Stint Woodcock, Jack Snipe, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Gull, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, Laughing Dove, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Pied Kingfisher, Richard’s Pipit, Wren, Thrush Nightingale, Rock Thrush, Hooded Wheatear, Pied Wheatear, Marsh Warbler, River Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Supalpine Warbler, Menetries’s Warbler, Rüppe’ls Warbler, Orphean Warbler, Barred Warbler, Goldcrest, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Penduline Tit, Rose-coloured Starling, Rock Sparrow, Brambling, Siskin, Crossbill, Hawfinch, Yellow Hammer. He is active in the field bird-watching and photographing almost every day.
He joined KUŞKOR because of his love of birds and nature, hoping to contribute to nature and conservation efforts of the ngo along with awareness rising activities. He is currently a committee member of KUŞKOR.
Barış Saydam
Born on 21st September 1974 in Nicosia. Upon attending primary school, high school and lycee in Nicosia he went to study physiotherapy at İstanbul University. He then got a master’s degree in Business Administration at the European University of Lefke. He also received education on ostheopathy. Since his childhood Saydam had a passion for nature and during his education on ostheopathy (2006) this passion was, with the help of photography, transformed into bird and nature photography. He has conducted a lot of field studies in Cyprus. He has especially conducted observatory research on the only living Bonelli’s Eagle in Cyprus and has contributed to an international scientific article written in North Cyprus on this subject.
Asuman Korukoğlu
She was born in Magusa, in 1964. She is a graduate of Ankara University, Faculty of Science and Biology. She got her teaching certificate in the year of 1988 at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Educational Sciences. In 1994 she received Ahmet Necati Ozkan award in the Field of Environment. She is a biology teacher in secondary education. In 2007 she got a training certificate from British Trust for Ornithology for Seabird-watching Throughout Islands. In 2008, she participated in 8th National Biology Congress with her presentation on “Dune Plants and Avifauna Observations of Glapsides Wetland”. From 2009 to 2014 she was one of the authors of Waterbirds in Cyprus, an island wide publication reviewing the occurrence and trends in bird numbers at wetlands. In 2011 she received Women Contributors of Turkish Cypriot Community award. She completed her post graduate degree with her works on “Chronology of Ornithology Resources in Cyprus” and “Awareness Level of the People Living around the Wetlands on Endangered Neapolis Wetlands” in 2013. In 2014 she participated in Union of The Chambers of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects’ Water and Environment Conference with her “Report on the Environmental Factors That Are Threatening North Cyprus Wetlands” and Eastern Mediterranean University’s Ecology Congress with her presentation on “Cyprus Wetland Avifauna”. She is currently continuing her doctorate in the Department of Environmental Education.
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