KUŞKOR, North Cyprus
January 29, 2009 by Essential Ed
Filed under Groups & Charities, North Cyprus Living
Masked Shrike : Pic courtesy of Dietmar Schuphan
KUŞKOR, translating to North Cyprus Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature, has been active in North Cyprus for over 10 years, and strives to educate the population about protecting birdlife and nature through presentations to schools and villages, as well as monitoring the bird population on the island as best it can, whether migratory or native.
Formed in the early 1990’s, they work hard to protect and conserve the current bird population of North Cyprus at a time when the birds’ local habitat is dwindling through tourism development, and the numbers of birds are depleting due to hunting and hotter and dryer summers.
The organisation’s main aims are:
- to protect the birds of North Cyprus as well as their habitat
- to stop and prevent the killing of birds to excess as well as indiscriminately
- to ensure that current laws and regulations are enforced
- to encourage and bring together people who are interested in birdlife
- to help promote the observation, study and publication of the subject of birdlife in North Cyprus.
Cretzschmar's Bunting : Pic courtesy of Dietmar Schuphan
Unfortunately under KUŞKOR’s constitution they are unable to take foreigners as members presently (strange but true!) However, there is hope on the horizon for those of us who wish to participate in becoming a member, and one
man is beginning to make headway by forming a group called The Friends of Kuşkor. His name is Steve Cale, he’s a tour guide, bird artist and author of Where to Watch Birds in North Cyprus.
KUŞKOR has a small office which is generally open on most weekday mornings, and it’s located in Kyrenia on the second floor of the office block behind the Vakıflar Bank which is next to The Colony Hotel.
The organisation can also be contacted on +90 (0)392 815 7337, or by post at PO Box 634, Kyrenia, or via one of its members Martin Marancos at marancos@kktc.net. You can also find their previous published bird reports via the wonderful Environmental Bookstore NHBS www.nhbs.com.
Cyprus Pied Wheateater : Pic courtesy of Dietmar Schuphan
You also can find out more about the tours that Steve Cale is involved with by visiting our article on specialist tours to North Cyprus, and if you would like to know more about the proposed Friends of Kuşkor Group and to express your interest in joining then please email Steve at steveshrike@aol.com.
Other groups which are also very much involved with conservation and birdlife are the North Cyprus Biological Union, and the organisation in the south of the island BirdLife Cyprus, which is affiliated with BirdLife International www.birdlife.org.
Please visit our North Cyprus Groups & Charities section which provides more information on the various organisations which aim to educate and inform the public on a variety of issues, as well as details on social groups and networking.