Cyprus Mail 10 September 2023 - by Angelos Nikolaou
In an effort to satisfy the long-standing request of the community of Ineia for the utilization of the southern Gulf of Lara, in order to place umbrellas and sea beds and create economic benefits for the community, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (GAAP) committed a number of omissions and mistakes.
Initially, it decided, in violation of the current legal framework governing the area, to further examine the request, either by the Central Beaches Committee (KEP) or by the Department of Forests, for the installation of infrastructure for the provision of bathers' services at the visitor service hub, as decided at a meeting at the Ministry of Fisheries in December 2021. It is noted that this request was discussed until recently, even after the decision of the Council of Ministers on the framework of measures and actions to strengthen the development activity of the Akamas communities.
For two years, the Ministry of GAAP continued to examine the request of the community of Ineia for the installation of facilities for the provision of bathers' services (umbrellas and sun beds) at the planned visitor service hub of the Akamas National Forest Park (SAR).
In fact, immediately after the recent decision of the Council of Ministers to adopt compensatory measures for the communities of the Akamas Peninsula, on31/8/2023, due to the implementation of the Akamas Local Plan, the Ministry of GAAP announced that Ineia's request could be further examined, either by the KEP or by the Department of Forests. However, as it eventually transpired, both the KEP and the Department of Forests do not even have the competence to consider such a request. On the contrary, this request should have been rejected from the outset, based on the legally binding terms of the EDA Report on the Akamas SAR Sustainable Development Plan, the most important being the condition that does not allow any future expansion of the planned visitor service hub in Lara South Bay, taking into account the particular ecological value of the area.
However, the issue was clarified with the statement of the Minister of GAAP Petros Xenophontos to "F", who, after receiving correct and complete information on the issue, characteristically stated that, taking into account that the terms of the Special Ecological Assessment Report (EDA) for the Akamas Sustainable Development Plan are binding, the Department of Forests cannot advocate any change in the design of the visitor service hub in Lara South Bay.
The above results from a Special Report of the Audit Office of the Republic, which was published on 13/12/2022 and states, inter alia, that any approval of such a request by the Department of Forests "lacks legality, since the legislation does not give it the power to approve such requests".
As noted by the Audit Office, "the competent Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR), in a letter in December 2021, to the Department of Forests, stated, on the issue, that the area of Lara has been protected by legislation since 1989, since according to Regulation 14 (Lara – Toxeftra Sea Area) of the Fisheries Regulations, the placement of umbrellas is expressly prohibited, of tents, caravans and all kinds of shacks and that it is his firm position on this issue, namely that he does not agree with the placement of umbrellas within the protected area of Lara – Toxeftra, neither on the beach nor at the point of construction of the junction. The DFMR also pointed out that the above had been said at an on-site meeting held by the two Departments, in the presence of the former "Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment".
The area in the South Gulf of Lara, where the planned visitor service hub of the Akamas NFP is located and the request of the community of Ineia for the installation of facilities for bathers' services (umbrellas and sun beds) was examined by the Ministry of GAAP, falls within two areas of the Natura 2000 Network, the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of the Akamas Peninsula, which was designated for the conservation of natural habitats and wild flora and fauna, as well as the Akamas Peninsula Special Protection Area (SPA), which was designated for the conservation of wild birds.
In addition, the visitor service hub of the Akamas NFP in Lara South Bay is adjacent to: the Beach Protection Zone (SPA), which was designated under the Beach Protection Law, the Lara – Toxeftra Marine Protected Area, which was determined under the Fisheries Law and the Fisheries Regulations, as well as the Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI), established on the basis of the Fourth Protocol to the Barcelona Convention on Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean.
In accordance with the provisions of the European Union (EU) Directives on Habitats (92/43/EEC) and Birds (2009/147/EC, former Directive 79/409/EEC), as well as the settled case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and the relevant interpretative guides of the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment, the terms of the Appropriate Impact Assessment procedure, also known as EDA, are legally binding.
Based on the initial term of the EDA Report on the Akamas Sar Sustainable Development Plan, in case of an application for development location, which may have adverse effects on protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network, it must be assessed whether an EDA Study is necessary. However, the Ministry of GAAP initially considered that the request that had already been submitted in writing by the Community Council of Ineia, with letters dated 16/11/2021 and 28/7/2023, could be examined either by the KEP or by the Department of Forests, bypassing the prescribed procedure of the Appropriate Impact Assessment and the negative position of DFMR, as the competent authority for the protection of sea turtles and the Marine Protected Area of Lara – Toxeftra.
In accordance with another clause of the EDA Report on the Akamas Sar Sustainable Development Plan, regarding the relationship between the EFN and the Natura 2000 sites Akamas Peninsula and taking into account that the EFP does not include the area of entire Natura 2000 sites, it is necessary to ensure that, in the context of the operation of the EFN, The environmental impacts of projects and activities throughout protected areas will be identified in a timely manner.
Instead of ensuring the timely rejection of the request, immediately after the issuance of the relevant EDA Report, the Ministry of GAAP did not even take into account that, based on a legally binding term of the EDA Report on the Akamas Sar Sustainable Development Plan, at the junction located in South Lara Bay, no expansion of the site can take place in the future, considering the great ecological importance of the area.
REMOVAL ACTIONS
Inactivity or tolerance for unlicensed premises
In addition to the above, it is noted that in the South Bay of Lara, two unlicensed catering and leisure establishments are located and continue to operate illegally, a restaurant on state forest land within the SPA and a refreshment bar on a private plot adjacent to the SPA. According to another condition of the EDA Report on the Akamas Sar Sustainable Development Plan, within the boundaries of the Akamas NFP and within the Natura 2000 Network areas there are illegal premises / accommodation, which must be removed.
Steps for removal are already underway, but these cases have not yet been adjudicated. According to the term of the EDA Report, it is necessary to accelerate the treatment of the issue, because the aim is to remove the illegalities as soon as possible and if possible before the operation of the Akamas NFP.
In this context, efforts should be made by the Department of Forests, the Department of Environment, the DFMR, as well as by the Ministry of Interior and the Pafos District Administration. No one knows what coordinated actions the co-competent authorities have taken to remove the two illegal premises (a restaurant and a refreshment bar) in South Lara Bay, since June 2021, when the Environmental Authority issued the EDA Report on the Akamas Sar Sustainable Development Plan, until today.
No regulations
In addition, another condition of the EDA Report on the Akamas Sar Sustainable Development Plan states that the provisions of the Nature and Wildlife Protection and Management Decree, which must be issued on the basis of the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife Law, as well as the provisions of the Decree for the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game, must apply. which must be issued on the basis of the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game Law.
According to a term of the EDA Report, which concerns the establishment of an effective legislative framework for the protection of Natura 2000 sites, by February 2022 the draft Decree for the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife for the Special Area of Conservation of Akamas Peninsula had to be submitted by the Department of Environment to the Scientific Committee, in order to begin the process of completing the Opinion of the Scientific Committee to the Minister of GAAP, no later than February 2022. Although one and a half years have passed since the established timetable, the necessary Decrees for the Protection and Management of the protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network in the Akamas Peninsula have not been issued to date.
In addition to the above, according to another relevant condition for the effective legislative framework for the protection of Natura 2000 sites, special regulations must be drafted for the Akamas NFP, based on the Forests Law, in compliance with the provisions of both the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife Law and the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game Law. Although the works for the improvement of the main forest roads and the construction works for the visitor service nodes of the Akamas NFP have already begun, the Department of Forests has not yet drafted the special operating regulations of the Akamas NFP.
No licensing in the area
Especially regarding the request of the Community Council of Ineia for the installation of facilities for the provision of bathers' services (umbrellas and sun beds) in the area of South Lara Bay, it is noted that according to the current Regulations for the Marine Protected Area of Lara – Toxeftra, which were issued on the basis of article 6 of the Fisheries Law (ΚΔΠ 172/89 and 273/90), from June 1st to September 30th of each year and within the coastal zone, which is bounded on the west by the line of the highest tide level from the location "Aspros Potamos" to "Argaki tou Youssoufis" and which extends perpendicular to the land at a distance of 90 meters from this line, subject to the provisions of the Protection of the Beach Law, it is forbidden for any person to place a bed on any part of this area, umbrella, caravan, tent or similar shack.
The Ministry initially stated that umbrellas and sun beds would not be placed on the beach and within the SPA, but above the beach and would therefore be adjacent to the SPA.
However, according to a Decree issued pursuant to Article 5(1) of the Beach Protection Law (ΚΔΠ 8/1990), the Council of Ministers, exercising the powers granted to it by subject to subsection (1) of Article 5 of the Beach Protection Law, determines for the purposes mentioned in the above reservation the beach areas of the villages of Inia, Kato Arodes and Pegeia of the Pafos district, and/or adjacent to this beach, as areas in respect of which no permit may be issued by the relevant local authority or, if issued, renewed after its expiry. The Ministry of GAAP does not even seem to be aware of the existence of this Decree, let alone the express provision for the rejection of any application for permission within and/or within the boundaries of the SPA, including those adjacent to the designated SPA along the Lara-Toxeftra Marine Protected Area.
Finally, it is noted that according to the Opinion on the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment for the Akamas Sustainable Development Plan, special provisions should be implemented for the coastal zone, in accordance with the principles of the Seventh Protocol to the Barcelona Convention on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in the Mediterranean. In particular, the implementation of the provisions of the Beach Protection Law and the Protocol on the ICZM of the Mediterranean must be ensured.
However, the GAAP does not seem to understand that, according to Article 10 of the Seventh Protocol to the Barcelona Convention on ICZM for the Mediterranean, contracting parties must take specific measures for the protection of special coastal ecosystems.
In particular, the Parties, recognising the need to protect marine areas hosting habitats and species of high conservation value, irrespective of their classification as protected areas, should adopt measures to ensure the protection and conservation, through legislation, planning and management, of marine and coastal areas, in particular those hosting habitats and species of high conservation value. At the same time, the Contracting Parties should adopt measures aimed at protecting and developing coastal forests, especially those outside or even adjacent to special protection areas, such as the SPAMI Lara-Toxeftra area.
