Filenews 13 January 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
Under opaque and scandalous procedures, state forest land of approximately 40,000 sq.m. was granted for the creation of a camping site, with catering and hygiene infrastructure, in the community of Lazania in the Nicosia district, within the Machairas National Forest Park (SAR), as well as the protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Machairas Forest and Special Protection Area (SPA) Tzionia Area. The lease was granted to the Association "Friends of the 76th Scout Corps of Strovolos", in violation of article 13 of the Forest Regulations concerning the lease or other disposal for camping purposes.
The relevant decision was taken by the Council of Ministers on 15/6/2022 and was the result of a proposal by the competent Ministerial Committee at a meeting held on 16/5/2022, which studied a number of applications for concession, assignment, exchange or lease of state/forest land. However, this decision was never published on the basis of the sensitive personal data it contained!
The contract has a duration of 15 years for €500 per year, in order to build and operate a campsite. The lease plot is part of an old National Guard camp where it existed in the area and was closed in the early 1980s. The management of the site has been returned to the Department of Forests. For this particular plot, consent has been given by the Department of Forests for the conduct of an Environmental Study with the ultimate purpose of renting and constructing and operating a camping site to the non-profit association "Friends of the 76th Scout Corps of Strovolos".
The Cyprus Federation of Hunting and Wildlife Conservation (KOK&DAZ) filed a relevant complaint with the Audit Office, as well as with the President of the Parliament, with notification to the competent parliamentary Committees on Internal Affairs, Control and Environment.
Among other things, the Cyprus Hunting Federation expresses its strong reaction to the proposed development and notes that on the one hand it poses risks to the biodiversity of the area and on the other hand it is a measure that will bring disproportionately onerous results to a large portion of society.
The area in which this development is intended to take place is located within the administrative boundaries of the Community of Lazania, in Urban Protection Zone Z3 and within the protected areas of Machairas Sar, Machairas Forest SAC and Tzionia Area. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to protect wildlife and the natural ecosystem.
According to the Cyprus Hunting Federation, it is required by law to carry out and evaluate an Appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment Study, which was not done in this case. Also, the environmental approval (Reasoned Finding) issued does not refer to all types of characterization and species included in the conservation objectives of the SPA Gionia Area.
The planned development will cover a huge area of approximately 39,415 square meters of state forest land. It will include four premises with the total area of the premises amounting to 593 sq.m. of covered spaces.
The Cyprus Hunting Federation notes that the use of the development will be private for the Association and will be used only during the summer months and with the maximum number of campers reaching 100 people. However, the whole area will be fenced off, in such a way that access will of course be blocked to everyone for the whole year. According to the Cyprus Hunting Federation, if the intended development goes ahead then we will be led to the disproportionately onerous and ultimately very unfair result of prohibiting access to a state forest of the entire community for the whole year, for the benefit of a small group of individuals. "The areas that will be excluded are areas that can now be enjoyed and indeed in practice enjoyed by a very large number of our fellow citizens, including hunters of our members, since they are also areas in which hunting is allowed," he notes.
