File:Flamingos of the Larnaca Salt Lake at risk of lead poisoning, Cyprus.jpg

English: This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 2 February 2021, shows the Larnaca Salt Lake, one of the most significant protected wetlands in Cyprus. The Larnaca Salt Lake comprises four salt lakes, three of which —Aliki, Orphani and Soros — are interconnected, with the smallest, so-called Airport Lake, having been cut off from Orphani after the construction of the runway of the Larnaca International Airport. This area is a site of great international ecological significance that has been declared a Ramsar site, a Natura 2000 site, as well as a Special Protected Area under the Barcelona Convention. It is a crucial stop for many species of migratory birds that fly between Africa and Europe, welcoming as many as 15,000 flamingos each winter. In 2020, 96 flamingos were found dead at the Larnaca Salt Lake. According to Martin Hellicar, the director of Birdlife Cyprus, they had ingested lethal quantities of lead shotgun pellets as they fed. Hellicar is urging authorities to ban hunting at the coast and protect flamingos from the risk of lead poisoning by shotgun pellets by extending the national and EU-wide bans on the use of lead pellets near wetlands, which may not be enforced successfully. Every day the Copernicus Sentinel missions and Copernicus Services deliver petabytes of open data that can be used to monitor natural reserves worldwide.