The Akamas Local Plan, in its current form, environmental organizations say in a joint statement, includes "a number of very worrying proposals which will bring excessive pressures, significant threats and cumulative impacts on protected species and habitats in the area, counteract sustainable development and significantly alter the character of Akama."
The statement is endorsed by the Cyprus Federation for Hunting and Wildlife Conservation, BirdLife Cyprus, Natural Coasts Initiative and Save Akamas / Save Cyprus.
It is noted that Akamas is an area in urgent need of integrated management and effective conservation. "What we are asking for is not for things to stay the same forever. The State's inaction to take meaningful action for its protection and sustainable development, as well as the restoration of legality in the area, have led to the current unacceptable situation and are being used as a pretext for further degradation and alteration of the area," it added.
Our vision, it is noted, is to protect Akamas in a sustainable manner that promotes the real and long-term well-being of local communities at the same time.
"Over time, our view is that Akamas should not repeat the mistakes that have been made in so many other areas in Cyprus, and that compact development around the periphery of existing communities should be promoted. In this way, both the protection of the countryside, which in the case of Akamas includes agricultural land of high natural value, and the preservation of the comparative advantage of the area, which is none other than its intact and unique natural landscape, will be achieved as an attraction for visitors," the statement concludes.
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