BirdLife Cyprus has urged authorities to reverse the recent decision allowing an expansion of the Electricity Authority (EAC) medium-voltage power network within the Natura 2000 protected area of "Potamos Paramaliou." This area is a critical habitat for the endangered and strictly protected vulture species.

In a recent statement, BirdLife Cyprus criticized the Department of Environment for approving EAC’s network extension, meant to connect a licensed solar park to an EAC substation in Episkopi. The organization expressed frustration and disappointment with both the Department of Environment and the Game and Fauna Service, claiming that these agencies retracted initial conditions previously set during the solar park’s approval process.

Data released by BirdLife Cyprus highlights that electrocution and collisions with power networks are the second leading cause of vulture mortality and the third leading cause for Bonelli’s eagles in Cyprus. Since 2020, five Bonelli’s eagles have died due to electrocution on medium-voltage poles, while two others suffered fatal collisions with high-voltage lines.

The organization further reported that since 2018, eight vultures have died across Cyprus due to collisions or electrocution on power lines. In April 2023, a vulture collided with an overhead line in the area where the new expansion has been approved. Existing medium and high-voltage lines in the region have already been identified as high-risk through the “Life with Vultures” project.

BirdLife Cyprus emphasized that “with collisions and electrocutions posing the second greatest threat to vultures in Cyprus, this new installation in the species’ primary feeding ground raises serious questions about our country’s commitment and capacity to protect its most threatened species.”

The organization is calling on the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment to take action to revoke the recent environmental report approving the extension through overhead wiring, as it increases collision and electrocution risks for vultures and other key protected species.