Filenews 26 June 2022 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The issue has plagued the communities of the Akamas peninsula for years, since the respective governments failed to highlight the diversity of the region from the rest of Cyprus for protection and sustainable management. "F" attempts to analyze the contentious points of the Akamas Local Plan (TSA) by presenting the data around its controversial provisions, while the Environmental Authority evaluates the content of a Strategic Environmental Impact Study (SEA) for this Plan, in order to issue its final opinion.
After communication that "F" had with the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, he records the views of the government. It is noted that the elaboration of the TSA is based on a Decision of the Council of Ministers in 2016 for the Management of Akamas, according to which the existing urban planning regime of the area should be reviewed, through the preparation of a Local Plan.
The TSA includes the administrative boundaries of eight communities of the Pafos District: Kathikas, Pano Arodes, Kato Arodes, Inia, Drousia, Fasli, Androlykou and Neo Chorio. It is a coastal area, covering a total area of 181 sq. m. Km. and has a coastal front that extends over a length of 45 km. The TSA area includes the Akamas State Forest, while a large part of it (about 50%) falls under the European Natura 2000 Network, including the area covered by the state forest.
The Urban Council, responding to the opinion of the Department of Environment (IT), formulated new provisions, in January 2022, for the study area, with a substantial improvement of the environmental-ecological aspect of the Plan. In this respect, the points made and suggestions made by the IT have made a decisive contribution. The work and views of the members of the Ad-hoc Committee on Special Ecological Assessment also played an important role. Most of the views of the PA were fully adopted by the Town Planning Council, while the rest were partially adopted.
Managing the whole thing is not an easy task. On the one hand, it is imperative to properly organize the traffic and regulate the uses within the protected areas of the area, so as to be able to mitigate the pressure on natural ecosystems, something that the competent authorities expect to achieve through the operation of the Akamas National Forest Park (SAR). On the other hand, the aim is to regulate the development and land use of boundaries outside the protected areas, in order to derive the expected socio-economic benefits of this controlled but significant traffic, for the purposes of developing the local community, in a sustainable way, without circumventing the advantage of the uniqueness of the natural and excellent landscape that the area has.
Below we analyze, from the point of view of the Ministry of Agriculture, but also of the Ministry of Interior due to its competence, the main issues arising from the TSA, which according to the co-competent ministries, a large part of Cypriot society has misinterpreted, either due to incorrect information or due to deliberate inaccuracies that are allowed to leak for other purposes.
>>Determinacy of the Road Network from the Communities to the Akamas Park
MYTH: Akamas will be insured and will give the right to landowners to apply for developments, since there will now be easy access everywhere.
TRUTH: No road, whether main or secondary, is going to be asphalted. Especially for the secondary road network of a special regime that is developed outside the boundary of development, in order to connect each community with the entrances of the Akamas National Forest Park, no uncontrolled development rights will be given due to the proximity to a road. For this reason, safeguards have been introduced to prevent scattered building.
Especially within the Akamas SAR, it is planned to improve the road network in an environmentally friendly way and not asphalt paving. It also provides for the closure of roads of tens of kilometres that were illegally opened and which are currently fragmenting the natural ecosystem.
>Definition of New Development Zones
The area of the Akamas National Forest Park includes some of the most important nesting beaches of both the caretta turtle and the green turtle, which are defining species for the Natura 2000 area of the Akamas Peninsula. Specifically, in the area of the beaches of Lara and Toxeftra, both species of turtles give birth, with annual fluctuations in the number of nests, which is a typical model for sea turtles.
The immediate nuisance is limited in the area as the nesting beaches are not organized (ban on overnight stays, installation of umbrellas and sea furniture, prohibition of seaside sports), while measures have been taken to prevent the access of wheeled vehicles to the beach of Toxeftra. In addition, at the Information Centre of Lara, visitors are informed about the activities that should be avoided on the beach for the effective protection of the nests. Finally, the special cages that are placed on the nests for protection from foxes, provide additional protection against possible anthropogenic nuisance. Regarding the movement of vessels and fishing, by Decree of the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the passage and anchorage of vessels in the area is prohibited (with the exception of holders of a small-scale professional license) from May to October (spawning period of turtles) of each year.
MYTH: Akamas will be filled with hotel units and other developments that will serve large economic interests, especially in the coastal area of Lara / Toxeftra as well as for the famous owners near the coastline.
TRUTH: In the Natura 2000 network area, which includes the Akamas SAR and the surrounding area and occupies an area of more than 100 sq km, the possibility of any development is practically zero. Within the SAR, elementary forest infrastructure will be created for the proper management of high traffic (information, awareness and guidance areas for visitors, sanitary facilities, etc.). Small tourist zones are planned around the communities, as an extension of the existing development limit. As for the proposed Tourist Zone of Inia, about which there is a lot of discussion, it is more than six kilometres (in a straight line) from the nesting beaches of the turtle. In this area it is proposed to build buildings up to two floors. In order to avoid possible negative consequences of light pollution, the Plan under preparation proposes the adoption of strict lighting control measures, in accordance with international practice. The purpose of the measures is for the buildings not to emit direct flares to the side of the nesting beaches and to keep the diffused lighting to a minimum.
The development of infrastructure in the proposed tourist zone of Inia is to be implemented outside the area of the NATURA 2000 network and is proposed, taking into account the objective of preserving the priority species of Directive 92/43 / EEC on the coast of Lara: (a) to be adapted to the landscape of the wider area, (b) to be done with environmentally friendly building materials, (c) not to include massive developments, and (d) not to include intrusive growths as to the spawning grounds of the turtle, applying strict lighting conditions.
Tourist Zone of Inia
Based on a recent decision of the Urban Planning Council, the Tourist Zone of Ineia will not be considered a development limit for the purpose of implementing any form of development outside the limit, including individual residence. Therefore, the concerns and the prediction of the existence of "indirect, synergistic and cumulative effects, extending the boundaries of development and the potential areas of construction of individual houses, visitable farms, cheese factories, wineries and fruit packing houses", are not based on real data.
It is noted that the community of Inia had requested the inclusion in the TSA of three tourist areas on the front that extends from the community to Lara, in places where there were previously development rights. With the proposed tourist zone, the demands of Inia are met by less than 10%.
Finally, no development or extension/ designation of a new Development Zone is proposed and will not be included in the TSA on coastal fronts, nor within the wider area that is included in the NATURA 2000 network, regardless of the ownership status of the plots.
Individual dwelling
MYTH: Individual residences will be scattered wherever there is private land and access.
TRUTH: The possibility of building an individual dwelling is defined solely for the satisfaction, under certain conditions, of the housing needs of families who originate in the area and do not own any other piece of land within Residential Zones, for the construction of their own residence.
The distance of building individual houses from the boundaries of residential zones will be no more than 500 metres away. In order to minimize the possible negative consequences of the construction of individual houses, an additional condition is set that the plots of land under development, at a distance of 300-500 metres from the development limit, have a minimum area of 4,000 square metres.
Visitable farms
MYTH: The visitable farms will be covert hotels scattered inside and outside the NATURA 2000 network areas.
TRUTH: Visitable farms are the farms in whose turnover, the primary activity is the one associated with the primary sector and not the tourist one. Similar infrastructures can be found throughout Europe. In the areas of the Natura 2000 Network and up to 200 metres from this limit within the rural area, overnight stays will not be allowed while in the rest of the countryside the maximum number of beds is 16. The farms covered by this provision will be located near places of electricity, water, sewerage and other basic services, so that extensive work does not have to be done to connect to supporting infrastructure. Consequently, they will mostly be close to the communities. Also, when zoning visitable farms, the distance from important habitat types or from vital habitats (e.g. nests, breeding sites) of priority species will be taken seriously into account. In the rural area located within the Natura 2000 network, there is provision for the creation of eight visitable farms, but they are not entitled to accommodate people for overnight stays. Outside the Natura 2000 network and in a purely rural area of almost 56 sq. m. km, the maximum number of visitable farms that could potentially be created is twenty.
It should be noted that both for the rights to create a visitable farm and the construction of an individual residence and for the regulations in the Tourist Zone of Ineia, as these have been proposed by the Town Planning Council, the Game Service has expressed reservations, since it considers that they cause negative consequences to the bird fauna of the area, and therefore, there is the possibility that the Environmental Authority may propose their differentiation or even abolition.
Finally, the TSA under preparation is studying the possibility of applying a targeted urban planning incentive for the purpose of managing the enclosed private properties.
Androlikos Quarry Zone
MYTH: The proposed new quarry zone in Androlikos will negatively affect the colony of the fruit bat of the Gorge of Petratis. The noise from the quarrying operations and the vibrations from the explosions will eventually lead to the abandonment of this cave that hosts the largest colony of Cyprus. Quarrying work will destroy the naturalness of the landscape, with the risk of collapse of the gorge.
TRUTH: In order to ensure the preservation of this unique colony of mothdropper bats in the area of Androlykos, it was proposed to shrink the proposed location of the quarry zone. Specifically, it was proposed that the extension of the quarry zone stops downstream of the neighbouring gorge (to the east of Petratis), so that on the one hand the nearest distance of the quarry zone from the cave of Petratis exceeds 800 metres and on the other hand the vibrations and noise from the mining activity are stopped by the hilly volume, on the west side of which is the cave of the colony. In addition, special measures for the management of quarry development will be implemented, such as the use of low-noise explosives, the installation of a vibrator and the systematic monitoring of the colony of the moth trap in the Gorge of Petratis, with strict observance of the minimum acceptable limits of the size of the bat population.
Sustainable Development Plan of the National Forest Park
This Plan is an independent process that evolves in parallel with the creation of the TSA, since it concerns actions implemented within the National Forest Park, i.e. within state forest land. By Decision No. 80.041 of 11.01.2016, the Council of Ministers decided to approve the measures for the conservation, protection and promotion of the area, as well as the service of its visitors, as they are recorded in the Management Plan of the Natura 2000 network area "Akamas Peninsula".
The vision pursued by the Sustainable Development Plan of the Akamas SAR: "By 2028, the Akamas National Forest Park will be the national model for effective management of protected areas in Cyprus. In Akamas, the long-term preservation of biodiversity, natural heritage and related cultural values will be ensured by integrating sustainable development as a primary means of achieving the objectives of protection, conservation and promotion of the area, gaining national and local support, and offering benefits to local communities, achieving its economic viability and providing a unique experience to its visitors, all within the framework of the Natura 2000 network".
The main proposed actions/measures of the proposal of the Plan for the Sustainable Development of the Akamas SAR can be divided into two categories:
(a) infrastructure, and
(b) other administrative and organisational and conservation actions.
The infrastructure provided for in the Plan is the facilities of visitors and the improvement of the road network. The interventions in the road network mainly include works to improve part of the forest road network in an environmentally friendly way, 58.7 km long, which connects the main points of the park and to improve the access roads to the SAR by the local Communities of 27.45 km length. Another 4.6 km. roads will be cut off, while more than 100 km of illegal and arbitrary roads will be abolished in order to protect the natural ecosystems of the area. No significant infrastructure will be built, apart from very small interventions, typical for a forest park, such as viewpoints, points of interest and paths.
Within the Akamas SAR, 22 small stocks and 7 Forest monuments have recently been declared by decree of the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, areas with a special protection status, in which active measures seek to preserve the important elements of biodiversity they host.
