Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many days of staff absence there were in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area Police Anti-Poaching Unit in (a) September and (b) October 2014.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Dhekelia Sovereign Base Police Anti-Poaching team consists of five full-time officers who work approximately 20 days each per month on countering bird trapping operations. In September and October 2014 there were a total of 32 days of staff absences, comprising annual leave and public holidays. In addition to the 168 days of man hours provided by the Anti-Poaching team in these months, they were assisted by other Sovereign Base Area Police officers who are regularly tasked with duties directly associated with countering bird trapping.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many clearance operations there were to remove equipment used in the illegal killing of birds from the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in (a) September and (b) October of each of the last five years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The information requested is provided in the following table.
September | October | |||||||
Number of Anti Mist netting | Number of seized | Number of seized | Number of | Number of Anti Mist netting | Number of seized | Number of seized | Number of | |
2010-11 | 30 (6) | 112 | 37 | 15 | 61 (7) | 173 | 115 | 16 |
2011-12 | 52 (5) | 159 | 193 | 10 | 32 (5) | 161 | 97 | 10 |
2012-13 | 45 (4) | 125 | 288 | 12 | 57 (5) | 131 | 26 | 9 |
2013-14 | 32 (5) | 116 | 468 | 18 | 29 (6) | 99 | 48 | 3 |
2014-15 | 48 (4) | 91 | 114 | 11 | 43 (8) | 81 | 142 | 18 |
[1] Large scale clearance operations, possibly involving resources outside of the normal Sovereign Base Area (SBA) Police assets
[2] Large scale clearance operations, possibly involving resources outside of the normal SBA Police assets
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what area of acacia trees has been removed from the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in 2015 to date.
Answered by Anna Soubry
No acacia trees have been removed from the range at CapePyla in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (SBA) in 2015. The SBA Administration is currently evaluating options to remove acacia this year, which needs to take account of what funds can be provided for this purpose and the impact on military training. The SBA Administration will announce shortly that, subject to consultation, CapePyla will be designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) site. If the SAC designation is confirmed, the site will require management of the invasive species of acacia. Therefore, the decision to remove some of the acacia trees in 2014 and further proposed efforts to do so in 2015 is entirely consistent with the proposed designation of the site.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the area of land in Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area that has been planted with acacia trees in the last 10 years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Acacia trees occupy approximately 59.42 hectares of the 550 hectare range at CapePyla in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area. The Ministry of Defence is unable to estimate what areas have been planted in the last 10 years.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what area of acacia trees was removed from Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in 2014; and what the cost was of such action.
Answered by Anna Soubry
My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) spoke to the Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on 6 March 2015 and informed him that approximately 7.02 hectares of acacia trees were removed from within the firing zone of the range at Cape Pyla in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area between November and December 2014. The work to remove the trees and associated illegal irrigation cost approximately €130,000.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of songbirds killed illegally on the Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas in the autumn migration periods in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) is not able to accurately asses the number of songbirds killed illegally in the autumn migration periods.
Birdlife Cyprus undertakes assessments of bird trapping across the whole of Cyprus. The SBAA does not have confidence with unverified assessments over bird losses which are based on arbitrary data collected from a very short period.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) met with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Chief Executive on 6 March 2015 and informed him that the SBAA and Birdlife have agreed to work together on data collection methods to be used in analysis of the 2015 autumn season.
He also explained to him that during the autumn 2014 migration season, approximately ten percent of acacia trees in the range at CapePyla in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area were cut down. This equates to approximately 17 acres of land.
The RSPB is aware that the Sovereign Base Areas Administration is now reviewing options to remove more acacia in 2015 at Cape Pyla, and the area is proposed as one of the sites for designation as a Special Area of Conservation this year. This is subject to consultation and, if designation is endorsed, this site and others will require a long term management plan to reduce acacia further.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has made to remove the avenues of acacia trees which have been planted on his Department's land.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) is not able to accurately asses the number of songbirds killed illegally in the autumn migration periods.
Birdlife Cyprus undertakes assessments of bird trapping across the whole of Cyprus. The SBAA does not have confidence with unverified assessments over bird losses which are based on arbitrary data collected from a very short period.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) met with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Chief Executive on 6 March 2015 and informed him that the SBAA and Birdlife have agreed to work together on data collection methods to be used in analysis of the 2015 autumn season.
He also explained to him that during the autumn 2014 migration season, approximately ten percent of acacia trees in the range at CapePyla in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area were cut down. This equates to approximately 17 acres of land.
The RSPB is aware that the Sovereign Base Areas Administration is now reviewing options to remove more acacia in 2015 at Cape Pyla, and the area is proposed as one of the sites for designation as a Special Area of Conservation this year. This is subject to consultation and, if designation is endorsed, this site and others will require a long term management plan to reduce acacia further.