Filenews 17 March 2022
Under the pretext of protecting the coast from erosion – a problem that often does not exist, new breakwaters are being constructed or constantly promoted along the coastline of Cyprus, stated in a joint statement by BirdLife Cyprus, Terra Cypria - Cyprus Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and the AKTI Centre for Studies and Research.
The three environmental organizations stress that "a large part of the coastal front of Cyprus has been filled or is planned to be filled with breakwaters, even in environmentally sensitive areas. In reality, however, breakwaters are very often aimed mainly at creating sandy beaches, with the aim of attracting a massive number of bathers. Often, however, the price is high, causing irreparable alteration of the coast, to serve the most common and saturated tourist product ''sand-sun-sea'', for which there are already plenty of coasts on our island."
Coasts are natural and dynamic ecosystems that have the ability to protect the hinterland from extreme weather events, the statement also noted. "The restoration of coastal ecosystems and wetlands associated with the sea is crucial to tackling erosion, but also extreme weather events associated with climate change. The promotion of breakwaters as the first solution for "upgrading" a coast is a short-sighted and short-term practice. This, in most cases, does not protect the coasts. On the contrary, it exacerbates the problem and deprives the coast itself of the ability to shield the wider coastal front."
The three environmental organizations list some of the most serious issues arising from the reckless construction of breakwaters:
They create rather than solve problems: Breakwaters are not an "innocent" intervention at sea or "life-saving" for the coast as it may be considered. When a breakwater is built, the waves carry the sand from the shore next to the breakwater to the area in front of it, where it is trapped. This causes erosion on the adjacent coasts as the dynamics of the waves and thus the dynamic balance of the wider coast are disturbed. This creates a chain problem which, in order to be solved, requires the construction of more breakwaters, and so on...
Implications for biodiversity: The existence of breakwaters interrupts the natural contact of the coast with the sea. For sea turtles that come to lay their eggs on our island, this means difficulty in accessing the coast. In addition, in cases where the bottom is rocky then its natural elements completely disappear. From the breakwaters can be threatened and the precious Posidonia - one of the most productive ecosystems of the Mediterranean that is in itself a powerful natural breakwater.
Materially demanding: The construction of breakwaters requires mining of boulders from canyons and mountains which may be located in sensitive environmental areas. A typical example is the Quarry Zones in the community of Androlikos, located right next to the Natura 2000 protected area of the Akamas Peninsula. This area is under increasing pressure for the expansion of the Quarry Zones for the production, among other things, of boulders mainly for marine projects.
The absence of a National Strategy for the protection of the coasts results in the examination of rows of breakwaters not in their entirety but individually and piecemeal. In this way, their cumulative effects are not examined and a comprehensive picture of the potential impacts on both the sea and the coastal area is impossible.
It is necessary to review strategically and on a Pancyprian basis, as well as within the framework of Maritime Spatial Planning, the issue of coastal erosion, to identify cases where there is a real problem, to evaluate in depth the environmental impact and where it is absolutely necessary to construct breakwaters. At the same time, it should not be excluded to remove breakwaters where necessary.
The raison d'être of different types of coasts, where elsewhere they are sandy, elsewhere rocky, elsewhere gravel, etc., is by no means accidental. It is the result of the processes of hundreds of thousands of years of their adaptation to the various phenomena and conditions and any human interventions must be carried out with great thrift. The idea of turning all coasts into sandy beaches is something unattainable. On the contrary, the exploitation of the natural beauty of each coast separately can, with a little creative thinking and cooperation, be a pole of attraction for alternative forms of tourism, since tourists often look for beautiful and unique landscapes to enjoy their holidays somewhere calmly.
