The government has expressed its intention to deal with the illegal hunting of the endangered European turtle dove in the Ionian Sea region − the unlawful practice has been an open secret for decades. But an investigation by Solomon documents the rampant dimensions of illegal poaching on Zakynthos. The Forestry Service remains understaffed, while internal records raise suspicions of a cover-up.
A five-kilometer road in the forest connects the beach of Marathia and the village of Keri on Zakynthos, Greece. Along the route, during this season, one can hear the unceasing sound of buzzing bees, birds chirping, the rustle of the wind among the centuries-old olive trees, abundant pines and holly trees.
The only thing that disturbs the spring soundscape is the echo of gunshots and the humming reverberation left trailing in the sky.
It is April 17, 2024. These days, Zakynthos is a passage for migratory birds. Among them is the European turtle-dove. Even though it’s not hunting season, during our two-hour walk through the forest of Keri, hundreds of gunshots could be heard from every direction.
To ensure the protection of the species, the spring hunting of the European turtle dove has been prohibited in Greece since 1983. As of 2019, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the European turtle dove, Streptopelia turtur as an endangered species. But poaching has been rampant for decades in Greece, in violation of national and European legislation.
Solomon traveled to Zakynthos in mid-April, when the turtle doves migrate through Greece, making a stop to refuel before moving on towards Europe, where they breed.
Our field research focused on two areas of the island, where the most intense poaching activity has been recorded, along the two peninsulas of Zakynthos: Keri in the southwest and Vassilikos in the southeast.
We spent a week in the field, talking to local people, members of the forestry and security forces, and activists. We addressed the European Commission, we studied the national legislation and Local Action Plans, and analyzed previous years’ poaching reports made available to us by the Hellenic Ornithological Society. Finally, we addressed the Ministry of the Environment & Energy and the Hellenic Hunters Confederation, without receiving any response.
During the spring hunting ban on Zakynthos, Solomon:
Our investigation showed that, despite the continuing announcements of the Ministry of Environment & Energy, and the mandatory implementation of Local Action Plans against poaching since 2021, the understaffed Forestry Service is unable to adequately deal with the situation.
“Spring poaching is known to the relevant ministry. They should send ten cars to help patrol the disputed areas,” said a forest ranger from Zakynthos, who spoke to Solomon on condition of anonymity.
He added that the existing capacity is not sufficient. “We have endless issues to process, and there’s just six people on staff.”
In addition, Solomon gained access to informational documents from the implementation of Local Action Plans of the Zakynthos Forestry Directorate for 2021 and 2022, which present a completely distorted picture of reality, and only raise questions about whether the authorities have carried out their duties properly.
Every year, it’s estimated that during spring, more than one and a half million turtle doves pass through Greece on their journey from sub-Saharan African countries to Europe, through the east-central migratory corridor.
After crossing the Sahara, the world’s largest desert, the birds must fly over the Mediterranean. It is a huge and demanding journey. The verdant Ionian islands, including Zakynthos, are the first land they encounter. Under normal circumstances, it would be a relief stop to resupply and rest before continuing the journey.
But an activity that some locals call “tradition” − which has been banned for the last forty years − has been decimating one of Europe’s most endangered bird species for decades.
According to various sources who spoke with Solomon, poachers rent spots on private lands, where there’s “good passage” for up to €3,000, in order to set up a hunting post. On days of intense activity, the shooting is completely noticeable even in residential areas, with locals saying that bullets “fall on their rooftops”.
In previous years, in the context of scientific research by the Forest Research Institute, ELGO-DIMITRA and the Hellenic Ornithological Society, sound recording sensors were placed near passages where illegal hunting activity was considered to be developing. The analysis showed that during the ban periods of 2019-2022, there were at least 84,166 shootings in Keri and Vasilikos alone. In 2021, an estimated 57,095 birds were shot in the wider Ionian Islands region as a result of spring poaching, with the European turtle dove as the main target.
In 2023, the Deputy Minister of Environment & Energy at the time, Giorgos Amyras issued an order to take urgent measures to deal with spring poaching in the Ionian Islands.
“Poaching is the worst enemy of the birdlife and the hunters themselves. We emphasize prevention by creating a strong shield for species threatened by those who break the laws,” the Deputy Minister said.
A year later, Solomon ‘s investigation confirms that illegal poaching of the endangered species is far from being effectively dealt with in the region. And while the issue seems to be recognized as critical, its handling is assigned to an understaffed Forestry Service, which is called upon to assist the equally understaffed police force on the island.
The Ministry of Environment did not respond to Solomon’s questions.
Haido Christodoulou counts decades of active involvement in the protection of birds: she has collected birds that needed care in Evros, she has treated injured birds in Thessaloniki.
Even when the Chernobyl nuclear accident happened, she remembers, she was in Porto Lagos, Xanthi, recording birds and their nests. “Through the telescope we saw birds falling every day, and finally we were checked for radioactivity,” she tells Solomon while sitting in her office in the town of Zakynthos.
Christodoulou took over the Forestry Service of Zakynthos in February 2023. She says that she did not find an incident file or an action plan in her service. But for her, the issue of poaching seems to be high on the agenda. “Greek dances are called ‘tradition’” she says, “such an activity cannot be considered tradition.”
Christodoulou’s intentions are at odds with the reality of the administration: the very concept of the Forestry Service is rather a euphemism, since its staff numbers a total of only six forest rangers. In particular, Christodoulou only has one patrol at her disposal, that is, two people who always operate together — especially if there is a need to act.
The lack of staff essentially means that they cannot operate simultaneously in more than one instance, at a time when there are many active areas throughout the island.
“Spring poaching is known to the relevant ministry. They should send ten cars to help patrol the disputed areas”
Forest ranger, Zakynthos
“We have issues of understaffing,” says Christodoulou. “The huge problem we have, which I partly fixed, was fuel. The fuel contract ended at the end of 2023 and for three months we had no fuel.”
But understaffing issues are not the only ones. On the one hand, the responsibilities of the Forestry Service include other activities such as fire protection. Christodoulou had to leave during the interview when she got a phone call reporting a fire. This year, the fires on Zakynthos began in February.
On the other hand, she is called upon to change a culture that has been maintained for years within the service: “My employees had not learned to work. I wanted to show a different way, to set a new framework as a leader, because before everyone was tone deaf.”
Beyond the Forestry Service and Hellenic Police, the Local Action Plans also provide for the participation of game wardens in anti-poaching patrols. Game wardens are hired by hunting organizations . Christodoulou says that this year she has two game wardens at her disposal: one from the hunting club of Zakynthos and one from the hunting federation of the Peloponnese.
She believes that they should be “on the front lines”. But of the two gamekeepers, one appears to be on leave. It is a practice that is confirmed by our report: to avoid conflicts with the local community, of which they are a part, gamekeepers apply for a leave of absence during the height of the illegal hunting season.
It is April 19, 2024, just after 5:30 in the morning and it’s still dark outside. We’re on the road towards Vasilikos to meet the CABS team.
The environmental organization Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) is based in Germany, but operates in all Mediterranean flyover countries, namely Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Lebanon, Malta and, recently, Greece.
They scan areas likely to be used for poaching, collect evidence and call law enforcement when they see someone poaching.
They are usually divided into groups of two or three and operate simultaneously in different parts of the island. They know that if poachers see someone alone, they will see them as an easy target.
This year is the second year they are on Zakynthos.
The sun is just beginning to rise, and we head to one of the active posts with two members of the team. It was here, just two days ago, that they recorded a hunter in action. We follow a small path next to the sea and eventually enter a small pine forest. There are tourist residences nearby, but during this season, they remain closed.
A little while later, at the border of the pine forest and an olive grove, we spot the post: two large tree trunks, a khaki tarp, and tons of pine cones, branches, and pine needles form what looks like a camouflaged position on a battlefield.
A pack of cigarettes, discarded butts, a bag of trash and shiny cartridges lay on the ground testifying to the recent presence of a hunter. A few steps away, a dead turtle dove is on the ground. Swallows, orioles, cuckoos and other birds of prey are also a target for hunters.
From this point we manage to locate at least four more posts on the opposite slopes. Solomon visually recorded a total of 13 posts on Vasilikos.
It doesn’t take long for the first shots to be heard in the area. Where we are, no hunter appears. A few kilometers away though, two other CABS members track another hunter, leading to the first arrest of the year.
In 2023, there were only two arrests for poaching on the island. This year, from the start of the ban to the day the report was published, there have been six arrests.
In two cases the hunters were detected by the authorities on their own, after a complaint by CABS. One was found to be an employee of the municipality and a higher administrative fine was imposed on him (€600 instead of €300).
Another hunter admitted that he is not a resident of Zakynthos.
CABS reports that during about three weeks in 2023, they recorded 92 active posts. This year, by May 2, they had registered 134 active posts, operating in only a small part of the island.
How long could it take and what does it take to change the situation?
Bostjan Debersek, a member of CABS, says it depends on both the number of arrests and the amount of fines. “The stiffer the fines, the less time it takes to curb poaching. A high percentage of poachers must be caught for any change to occur. If you have 300 poachers and you only catch two a year, the rest will continue to take risks.”
But even the activists themselves realize that it takes time to undo decades of tolerance. “Now we are asking the law enforcement agencies to do something. It’s not simple. Because the way things have been done for the last 40 years has to change,” says Stefania Travaglia from CABS. “It’s not simple for them to start prosecuting people, who until now have been left free to do whatever they want.”
The presence of the activists on the island and the recent arrests have sparked a backlash from some hunters, which seem to be escalating at an alarming rate.
Haido Christodoulou appears to be aware that when someone visits the Forestry Service to file a complaint, the news travels quickly and reaches many sides.
Activists we spoke to, told us of an attempt by about 30 people to block their car and of cars that appear at their accommodation, and drive around with the sound of turtle doves blasting from speakers. A few days after Solomon left Zakynthos, unknown assailants vandalized the activists’ car.
The incident is being investigated by the General Regional Police Department of the Ionian Islands, whose representative responded that they “cannot draw hasty conclusions” regarding the causes of the incident.
Nadia Sideri, policy manager for species protection at the Hellenic Ornithological Society, spoke to Solomon about the organization’s action on the issue of dealing with poaching. A struggle that has lasted for years, and comes with a price.
“They tell us that we are traitors and that we are denouncing our country. But our country still allows crimes to be committed on a permanent basis, every year, without regulation,” Sideri said.
Typical of the climate that prevails on the island is that many locals agreed to speak to Solomon during our time there, but only under the condition of anonymity. In 2015, 700 hunters had gathered at the port of Zakynthos to prevent a group of forest rangers who had arrived by ferry, from disembarking.
In 2022, the Hellenic Ornithological Society submitted a report to the European Service faulting Greece for spring poaching. The report describes serious and systematic violations of European Union law, as Greece “allows the hunting of species that are in a disadvantageous conservation status and also allows poaching, without taking appropriate measures to stop these violations.”
Solomon posed questions to the European Commission about the current status of the case, and the EC replied that this case is related to an ongoing investigation and “therefore, we cannot share further details. As usual, the Commission will monitor the case and will take further steps, as appropriate.” the response concludes.
In 2008, the Hellenic Ornithological Society had filed a petition to investigate the poaching issue. Two visitors who were on the island during Easter 2009, and were surprised at the magnitude of the phenomenon, also filed a related complaint that was widely circulated in the press at the time.
“They tell us that we are traitors and that we are denouncing our country. But our country still allows crimes to be committed on a permanent basis”
Nadia Sideri, policy manager for species protection at the Hellenic Ornithological Society
The president of the hunting club of Zakynthos, at the time, Dionysis Makris, had commented that the abolition of spring hunting “wasn’t enforced in 1982 when some decisions were made. From then until today, during this period, we hunt on Zakynthos”.
“It’s a way of life for us and it wasn’t stopped by the conquerors who came to the island from time to time, nor by the Junta. Now, if they want us to stop, let the relevant authorities take over. We are not going to do that,” Makris added.
For his part, the president of the Hunting Confederation of Greece (HCG), Giorgos Arabatzis, reminds that questions about illegal spring hunting have been raised with the Commission and the Greek parliament, at least since 2008.
He says that the HCG’s position is that poaching is unacceptable, pointing to the Latin phrase dura lex sed lex (“cruel law but law”).
“Everyone must understand that hunting has moved into an ecological dimension. There is no worse enemy for us than poaching, especially spring poaching. And unfortunately, a few poachers create a despicable image of the Greek hunter.”
Today, although the members of the Forestry Service and Hellenic Police that Solomon met in Zakynthos appear troubled by the magnitude of the phenomenon, they believe that poaching could be dealt with by sending substantial reinforcements to the island.
But they insist that this is not enough, and tackling poaching “should be made aware of from schooling, education, from the family,”
However, some evidence casts doubt on the real will to combat poaching in previous years – even suggesting signs of a cover-up.
Hellenic Ornithological Society claims that on 21 April 2021, a day when “the official report of the competent Forestry Service reported zero incidents, their sound recording sensors on the very same day recorded 578 shots!”
The concern increases as in the official response of the Forestry Service of Zakynthos to Solomon, it is stated that in the years 2021 and 2022 no duly approved Local Action Plan for Zakynthos was even issued, and no “any relevant action plan” was made available to the local community.
Inevitably, no poaching incidents were recorded during the two years.
And in 2022, at the peak of the spring season, the vehicle logbook records only five patrols in one month. Today, even the Forestry Service cannot confirm with certainty whether they were related to anti-poaching or not.
Before you go, can you chip in?
Quality journalism is not of no cost. If you think what we do is important, please consider donating and becoming a reader who makes our work possible.
