Filenews 8 May 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
The long-awaited Akamas National Park, as well as the peninsula's Local Plan, may have stagnated, driven from postponement to postponement and from renegotiation to renegotiation, however, behind the big picture the smaller pieces that will create the big puzzle are rapidly falling into place. In almost all communities of the region, small projects are completed or begin to be built one after the other, creating an immediate enrichment product for them, regardless of any major changes in the coming period.
Innia, Arodes, Kathikas, Drouseia, welcome these works that add to their natural beauty an important parameter of services to visitors. Projects with an environmental and cultural direction, in order to highlight the unique particularity of Akamas and its communities, are progressing regardless of the difficulties that have been going on for years now regarding the final solution in the peninsula, improving the daily life and presence of the small and largely abandoned villages of the peninsula.
In Arodes these developments have been running non-stop for two years. The Centre of Geology and Paleontology of Akamas is already complete and visitable, while the hiking and cycling routes and the small observatory have taken turn, the contracts for the implementation of which have already been signed by the District Officer of Pafos. The cost for these projects amounts to more than half a million euros and the duration of the project is 12 months, says Mary Lambrou, who points out that these projects matured through the Pafos District Administration with the necessary studies and preparatory work in collaboration with the Community Council and private designers.
Particular importance is attached to the small observatory provided for in the same design, for which the Pafos District Administration is the coordinator, Lambrou clarifies, with the implementation amount coming entirely from the state budget, since the communities of Akamas have zero contribution to these projects.
According to the District Officer of Pafos, three routes will be formed with a common starting point at the community square, with a circular direction course, that is, starting and ending at the same point. These routes will be for both walkers and cyclists, explains Mary Lambrou, with most of them located along existing roads. The first route, she says, will take place in Kato Vrisi, Astropark, Myloi and Pano Arodes, the second in the part of Panagia Chrysospiliotissa, the Cave of Christinous and Pano Arodes and the third route in the part of Kokkinoges, Kamini, Lipati and Pano Arodes.
In neighbouring Drouseia, a museum space has also been completed for the everyday life of the people of the area covering previous decades and everything that constitutes today regarding the cultural heritage of the people. This is the Regional Museum of Rural Life of Akamas, co-housed in the new building complex of the Community Council of Drouseia, which was recently inaugurated by the former President of the Republic. Along with the museum space, the building complex houses an educational centre, which, according to community officials, highlight aspects of rural life and history of the wider area of Akamas, while protecting and utilizing all those elements that illuminate the historical tradition of the place, as well as the heritage of the people of Akamas and Laona.
The museum, they point out, already enriches the cultural and tourist product of the community, while illuminating aspects of the cultural course of Drouseia through the centuries, which were until recently unknown to many. The project cost €1.2 million of which €430,000 was paid from the state budget and the rest from the Community Council.
Completion of unique museums for Cyprus
Unique in Cyprus is the Akamas Bird and Terrestrial Flora Information Centre, which was completed recently in Kathikas. The total cost of the project amounts to approximately €350,000, disbursed from the state budget.
Speaking to "F", the District Officer of Pafos said that the project includes information areas with signs, as well as exhibits on the bird fauna and terrestrial flora and habitats of Akamas, reception, office, shop, auxiliary spaces, toilets and kitchen. It is the old building of SPE that was granted for a long time to the Community Council of Kathika and in which the necessary improvements and additions have been promoted.
The halls were designed into sectors and themes, which include a variety of floor installations, ceiling suspensions, interactive exhibits, dioramas, i.e. life-size depiction of nature, facilities and infrastructure for touch screens and other digital tools in relation to terrestrial ecosystems and the bird fauna of Akamas. The exhibits are accompanied by explanatory texts, photographs, video projections, interactive media, games and more.
Also, in Innia everything is ready for her own unique project throughout Cyprus: The Turtle Museum has been completed for a few years, while recently it was equipped with the necessary equipment for its operation. The Community Authority has recently made offers to hire a special associate who will be in charge of the museum space and it is estimated that this summer it will open its gates to visitors.
