TL: AKAMAS BAY IN CYPRUS SO: GREENPEACE MEDITERRANNEAN DT: APRIL 1996 GREENPEACE REPORT AKAMAS BAY IN CYPRUS 1. LOCATION 1.1 The Akamas, as described in the Local Plan, covers 230 Km sq. and is located on the western tip of Cyprus. It is an area of rare beauty which has changed little since Homer's time. The uniqueness of the area for Cyprus, and for the whole of the Mediterranean, is centred on its rare ecology as well as its rich archaeological heritage. The flora and fauna living in this relatively small area is truly impressive. Rare endemic plants grow there and foxes, snakes and other reptiles as well as many types of migratory birds live in Akamas or use it in their movements. 1.2 A vitally important characteristic of this peninsula are its beaches. These are crucial sea-Turtle nesting areas. Both the Loggerhead turtle (Caretta-Caretta) and the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) nest here, with the rarer Green Turtle depending on the Akamas beaches for its very survival in this region. The IUCN (International Union for the conservation of Nature) lists Loggerheads as "vulnerable" and Green Turtles as an endangered species. According to the IUCN, the annual number of Green Turtle nesting females in the entire Mediterranean could be as low as 325-375. Apart from Cyprus they nest in very few other known locations. 1.3 As stated in a paper written by two experts from the Cyprus Department of Fisheries, Andreas Demetropoulos and Myroula Hadjichristophoru: "Turtles are an ancient group of reptiles which, like the marine mammals, the dolphins, seals and whales, have "reversed" their evolution and have returned to the sea.......In Cyprus they lay every two years from the beginning of June until the middle of August. During the breeding season they lay 3-5, times approximately every two weeks. Each clutch of about 100 eggs is laid 1.5 - 3 feet deep in a hole dug in the sand in the quiet of the night.The hatchlings emerge from the sand at night, about 7 weeks later, and head directly and infallibly towards the sea. Their instinctive location of the sea is based on their attraction to the light reflected off the sea. This instinct, however, may well be the downfall of the turtles as hatchlings are attracted to the brightest light near the breeding beach, be it a hotel or a cafe or a camp, hence the need to avoid any such "development" near the breeding beaches. Female turtles are shy, and lights and movement at night will affect their laying. If the eggs are retained for too long by a female that cannot find a suitable beach to lay, they will be disposed of in the sea." 2. THE PROBLEM 2.1 Akamas faces several problems. The biggest and most paramount threat however comes from the pressure for tourist development that has engulfed Most Of the island's beaches and much of its coastline. This has taken the form of hotels, apartment blocks, holiday houses, restaurants etc., with their associated spin-off activities and related infrastructure (roads, lights, pollution etc.). 2.2 Though the above are highlighted there are other activities that can (and do) also have important detrimental effect on such an ecologically sensitive area. These are simply listed here: military exercises, fires leisure/tourist boats, hunting, fishing, uncontrolled grazing, motor rallies etc. 2.3 The problem posed by Tourism has long been known, and should have been appropriately handled a long time ago. In the World Bank report of 1992 Touristic development was described as having to some extent taken place at the expense of the natural and cultural environment despite its dependence on the same environmental goods for continued growth. In that report the World Bank recommended a complete new policy of tourism development to take into account the limited carrying capacity of the coastal zone. 3 A HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT THREATS 3.1 Illegal and/or destructive actions in the Park Area: - Beach exploitation with sunbeds, umbrellas, etc, at Aspros beach. - Bulldozing of a part of Aspros Gorge for the setting up of tourist facilities - Illegal restaurant opened in the Protected area overlooking Toxeftra beach and Avakas Gorge. - Sand extraction from Toxeftra beach for use in the Tsada golf course. - Concreting of the road at Aspros to facilitate access to the Toxeftra area, the Avakas Gorge and to Lara. - Bulldozing, levelling and removal of natural vegetation at the entrance of Avakas Gorge. - Illegal restaurant at South Lara Beach. - Power line to Toxeftra and to illegal restaurant - British Military exercises cause fire and destruction of natural vegetation in protected area. - Ever increasing accommodation facilities, on behalf of Mr. Photiades, in protected area i.e. levelling of land,removal of natural vegetation and changes in land use of area by plantations etc. - Rockblasting near the village of Inija close to rare eagle nests. - Two quarries in Androleykou gorge 3.2 IMMINENT THREATS - Tarmacking of road leading to Toxeftra by the Peyia Municipality - Construction of recreation facilities at Aspros e.g.a restaurant - The construction of huge hotel complexes and marinas at Asprokremmos, overlooking turtle nesting sites. - Pressure for the development of an area between the Avakas Gorge and Toxeftra beach (by Mr. Photiades and the Bishop of Paphos). The area is temporarily frozen, as a white zone, pending a decision by Government, on changes to zones. - Pressure, by Mr. Photiades, for the construction of a huge hotel complex. 4. THE WORLD BANK REPORT: 4.1 The project is part of the World Bank's Mediterranean Environmental Assistance Program (METAP). The request for this project was made by the Government of Cyprus, through the Planning Bureau, in 1990. A World Bank mission took place in June-July 1991 for the preparation of the Project Terms of Reference. 4.2 For technical and budgetary reasons, the project was split into two phases: Phase 1 was launched in July 1992; substantive project activities extended from December 1992 - June 1993. This phase was transmitted to the Government in June 1993. Phase 2 was resumed in February 1995. 4.3 The recently published full World Bank report again fully confirms what environmentalists have been saying about the necessity to protect the Akamas and to what extent. - W.B. Report Page 8 - 11 1.7 - "Description of the sites of ecological value: The incomplete knowledge about flora, fauna, ecosystems and habitats of the Akamas Peninsula does not prevent from identifying the sites of the highest ecological value. Some of them have been identified a long time ago, even if important research has not been conducted by scientists. As there is not yet a Framework Law o the Protection of the Environment or Nature Conservation Law, some areas have a status of protection such as the Lara-Toxeftra area (according to the Fisheries regulations and the foreshore Protection Law) and the Baths of Aphrodite to Fontana Amorosa area (according to the Nature Protection Order N 38 of the Town and Country Planning Law). The terrestrial and marine site of ecological value are listed hereafter and shown on a map. Terrestrial Environment Within the terrestrial environment of the Akamas area, different areas have been identified as nature reserves or protected landscapes....... (iii) The nesting beaches for marine turtles: T6a (Kalavron west), T6b (Kalavron east), T8 (South Khannoudin Capel), T16a (Lara north), b (Lara South), c (Ayll Phanendes) and d (Toxeftra). All these beaches are of international importance as some of the few known nesting areas of remaining populations of the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta). A better description is given in the marine environment section. The area located on the northern part of the peninsula (T6a and b) are the most disturbed due to the presence of infrastructure (road close to the sea) and housing development whose lights generate problems for nesting and hatchling turtles (light, noise, coastal erosion). Marine Environment Within the marine environment, five areas have been identified as more important and more sensitive. they are described hereafter : (iv) From Aphrodite to Fontana Amorosa (M4) is an area of regional importance for its ecological value representative types of marine Mediterranean Ecosystem) and of international importance due to its cultural interest (landscape and shipwrecks). The area is located at the northern tip of the Akamas peninsula, northern than N35 06. Regulations exist on professional fishing and spear fishing activities in this area. Kalavron promontory (M5), located between Baths of Aphrodite and Latchi, is of international importance due to the occasional presence of the Mediterranean monk seal which can find here a suitable habitat. the species is one of the most endangered of the world (about 500 individuals). The area is located at the north eastern part of the Akamas peninsula, between N 35 02 30 and N35 02 40 Other relevant parts of the World Bank report are annexed to this report as Doc.A. 5. NGO ACTIVITIES AND GOVERNMENT REACTION 5.1 For more than a decade Cypriot, and International, environmentalists have been campaigning for the establishment of a protected area in the Akamas. Governments have come and gone, plans changed and/or postponed, promises made but as yet unfulfilled. 5.2 Local activists, namely the Cypriot, Federation of Environmental Organisations, the Friends of Akamas, the local branch of Friends of the Earth and other interested Cypriot NGOs, have carried out various activities on the issue over the years. They have campaigned in front of the Parliament and the presidential Palace often. So many times in fact that it is impossible to keep track of all the occasions. The following list only goes through highlights of the activities over the years: - September 1987: The Environmental Co-ordinating Committee, which groups some 17 non-governmental scientific and environmental associations, issued a statement saying that" a series of recent developments prove that proper legal and other protective measures are not taken, and, what is even worse, existing legislation is circumvented". In the same statement they specifically express their strong objection "to any development likely to destroy the unique ecology of the Akamas Peninsula, and insist that the whole area be declared a national park". - 05/05/88: A Declaration was issued by no less than 85 Cypriot organisations calling for action (annexed as Doc.B). These organisations represented all sorts of interests. Environmental Organisations, Trade-Unions, Youth Organisations, Professional Societies and Scientific-Social-Cultural Organisations. In their declaration these organisations call for the Akamas area to be protected and call on the Cypriot Government "to waste no time in taking action in this direction. In the meantime, and until the appropriate decisions are taken, we ask that no infrastructure works of any kind, or other intervention is carried out in the area". - January 1989: Cypriot NGO's block entrance to the Presidential palace to protest Government inertia on the bulldozing and razing of vegetation by local developer Photos Photiades. President Vassiliou came out to address the protesters and gave an assurance "that nothing is going to take place in Akamas before the study for the region is completed. He explained that the study, prepared by a German expert, is in its final stages and will be presented to the Council of Ministers for approval in the next few days. The idea behind it is the designation of Akamas as a national park, the president said. - Government announces some changes to town planning zones in the area - 23/08/89: The Cypriot organisations co-ordinating Committee for the protection of the Akamas was however far from satisfied. They issued a statement where they reasserted that the common aims of the 84 organisations contained in the May 1988 declaration still held true,"....even more so now that the content of these aims gas met with the widespread approval of the public in the time that has elapsed." (Full statement annexed as Doc.C) - 1989 : The Fisheries Law. Cap 135, 1989 Regulations (Doc.D) made an improvement in establishing "Lara Reserve Regulations". These regulations relate to damaging behaviour in the area but by its nature could not relate to the urbanisation and zoning problem. - Spring of 1989 : The Chairman and the Director General of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, the Association for the Protection of the Cyprus Environment , and the Cyprus ecological committee made separate announcements warning about the threat to the tourist industry posed by uncontrolled development. - April 1989: An EEC-backed plan for the development of agro-toursim in the Laona region of Akamas was announced. The specific project to be funded by the European Commission with the allocation of 100,000 ECUs, with the provision that a similar amount is provided through government, or private, funding in Cyprus. Two environmental groups, Friends of the Earth and Friends of Akamas were associated with the implementation of the scheme and stressed the merits of the project, seeing it as backing the idea of the declaration of the region as a national park. - November 1990: Greenpeace entered the scene when the MV Sirius visited Cyprus and travelled to the Akamas region with representatives from all the various NGOs involved aboard. - A long correspondence between the Cypriot government and Greenpeace started at this stage (Ref. Doc.E). This correspondence contains repeated expressions of interest in the Akamas environment by the Government of Cyprus. - April 1991: This month was a moment of intensification for Greenpeace activities: - One hundred Greenpeace "Sea Turtles" (played by Cypriot schoolchildren) lay their eggs in a protest at the Interior Ministry. -Activists from Greenpeace and Cypriot environmental Groups walked inland from the beach until the place where government planned to establish "service stations" once a planned road was opened. They planted forty signs marking the area and calling for protection. - Greenpeace activists hung a huge banner with a finger pointing to the office of developer Photos Photiades reading "This is the office of Photos Photiades the Man of Carlsberg who would bulldoze Sea Turtles to Extinction. Hands of Akamas. -Greenpeace activists join local NGOs to protest outside the House of representatives on the last day of that parliament hoping that the next one will bring about definitive protection measures. - Friends of the Earth release results of an opinion poll showing that 83 per cent of Cypriots favour the creation of a national park in the region. - October 1991 : Greenpeace activists occupy the British army shooting range in the Akamas to protest destructive activities in the peninsula and continue with their call for the protection of the Akamas. Greenpeace also called upon the Bishop of Paphos, Crysostomos, to abandon plans to develop the land belonging to the church in the Akamas peninsula. - Summer 1992 : International Postcard campaign culminating in the carrying of a huge Postcard to the presidential Palace. A special guest on Board the MV Sirius, Papas Pavlos from the island of Zakynthos. - Sep. 1992 : A float portraying a restaurant crushing a turtle planted in front of the Town planning department in Nicosia to protest proposed changes in the construction indicator from 0.5% to 15%. - February 1993 : The outgoing Government approves the planning regulation changes in the construction indicator from 0.5% to 15%. This significantly endangers the sensitive areas of Toxftra, the gorges of Avakas and Koufon and the area north of Aylos Yeorgios tis Peylas. - March 1993: Seminar on the Akamas Peninsula held in Nicosia. - July 1993 : The recently elected government decides to freeze development in the area around the turtle nesting sites for one year declaring that area a "white zone". - October 1994 : Greenpeace launches protest at Commonwealth Heads of State summit to call for a finalisation of promises to protect the Akamas national Park 6. THE LATEST THREAT - A Hotel in Asprokremos. 6.1 Foreign affairs Minister Alecos Michaelides was granted a special waiver to build a hotel in the Akamas. A few months before the elections Government has relaxed normal building restrictions on the reserve to allow the development by Thanos Hotels, a company owned by Michaelides who is also one of the leading hoteliers on the island (ref. further Doc.F). 6.2 Local environmentalists described the decision as a scandal and are calling for the Minister's resignation. At a demonstration held by the in Asprokremos in March demonstrating environmentalists were attacked by local villagers who favour tourist development in the region. Greenpeace and other international organisations wrote in support of local environmentalists and condemning the Government's decision. In the meantime Greek Euro Mps, tabled questions to the European parliament on the issue. UK specialist Sunvill tourist operators Noel Josephides said that embarking on large scale development in the Akamas will only worsen the disastrous environmental reputation Cyprus has in the eyes of the up-market tourist which the island purports to attract. 6.3 Minister Michaelides was granted permission in January 1996. The World Bank report was published in September 1995. It was however only officially circulated in March 1996. In the same month of March the constructions in Asprokremos were commenced. It takes little imagination to see what happened. Seeing that the World Bank Report recommendations did not concur with the grant of the permits Minister Michaelides required he was hastily granted the permits concerned. The report distribution being sufficiently delayed for the Minister constructor to hastily commence constructions in order to have a fait accompli, at least of the foundations, by the time the report was circulated to the general public. 6.4 There might be some other plots and sub-plots about how things went. The facts however are clear. The WB report had been commissioned by the same Cypriot Government in 1990. The first phase, which already clearly delineated the advice being given came out in June 1993. Government was the first to know about the final report's contents when it was published in September 1995 . Yet it proceeded to grant permits going contrary to the advice given by the experts they themselves appointed. This is a flagrant abuse of the trust placed in a man who represents Cyprus internationally and his ministerial colleagues. 6.5 The relaxation's run contrary to all recommendations concerning the development on the peninsula. The hotel Mr. Michaelides has been given a permit to build is not some little hut in the soil. It is a 352 bed hotel that will directly impact an area of 80,000 square metres. The hotel covers areas already denominated "protected zone" or "for agricultural use only". Apart from this it is directly adjacent to the sea with the consequent direct interference (light, sunbeds etc) with the turtle nesting sites to be found there.(Ref. Further to the Map found in Doc.G 6.6 This decision will open the way for others to follow suit before a final decision is taken to declare the area a national park. It is know that six requests are already pending a decision. Mr. Photos Photiades for one has long been awaiting his turn as has the Bishop of Paphos. Others who have not yet dared try would be encouraged to join the Band wagon. In deciding on the permit for Minister Michaelides the Government of Cyprus is deciding on the fate of the whole Akamas. 6.7 It is still possible to act now and once and for all. The Government of Cyprus should withdraw all development permits given for constructions in the area and establish a protected area status for the Akamas peninsula. 7. CONCLUSIONS Looking at the history on the subject over the last nine years one can note some interesting trends: - Both President Vassiliou and President Clerides repeated clear promises to establish a protected area in the Akamas when approached with the issue. - No permanent status of protection was ever decreed. Postponements were always resorted to. - Studies and reports are a favourite excuse for postponing decisions. Expert advise is however clearly only an excuse to be discarded or used according to convenience. - Experts from all sectors( e.g.the World bank, Greenpeace, Tourism experts, Friends of the Earth, IUCN and FNNDP) agree on the wisdom of not developing the area. - On the eve of presidential elections developers seem to gain in importance and obtain all the permits they require. It is very interesting to look at the remarks of an organisation which normally gives economics more importance than the environment. The World Bank has this to say in page 96 of its report: "9.3 Environment/development integrated management At least for the next twenty years, tourism is destined to be a major resource in most of the Mediterranean countries and the competition between them will be fierce. Each country should aim at improving the spatial and seasonal distribution of visitor activities. The value of the remaining unspoiled coastal zone all around the Mediterranean will increase every year. The value of the coastal managed/protected areas will increase more. Akamas could be in 5 years one of the top ten in the Mediterranean and in 2010 one of the to[p three destinations for nature enjoyment and village integrated activities. Its best value is in this row of villages on the crest line, providing an inestimable unspoiled landscape and marine ecology. Each country will have to choose among different kinds of tourism. Diversification has to be thought in advance, some steps being irremediable for the product. After 10 years, low cost mass tourism brings more deterioration than income. Conference tourism needs important infrastructure and international communication schemes. Nature and traditional tourism is certainly the cheapest investment for the most important medium term revenue and long term sustainability." The Akamas are too precious to throw away for personal or party political expedience. Cypriot politicians should look at the public interest of their country and the advice of local and international experts. They should protect this area once and for all. This is in the interests of Cyprus both from the ecological and the economical perspective. Greenpeace calls for a stop to the destruction now, before it is too late. The issue concerns the survival of at least one species in this region and continues the damaging destructive trend that is being brought about in the name of irresponsible development. It is still possible to act now and once and for all. The Government of Cyprus should withdraw all development permits given for constructions in the area and establish a protected area status for the Akamas peninsula. Annexes Doc. A : World bank Proposal excerpts DOC. B : NGO Decleration of 05/05/88 DOC. C : NGO Statement of the 23/08/89 DOC. D : Lara Reserve Regulations DOC. E : Correspondence of Cyprus Authorities to Greenpeace DOC. F : Permit for relaxations on development in Asprokremos DOC. G : Map showing planned constructions in Asprokremos APRIL 1996 GREENPEACE MEDITERRANNEAN