PLANS FOR PROJECTS WORTH MILLIONS IN LAKE PARALIMNI - PEDESTRIAN STREET, BICYCLE PATH AND SQUARES IN THE PLANS OF THE MUNICIPALITY - Filenews 3/3 by Natasa Christoforou
Plans for the promotion of Lake Paralimni began to be drawn up by the municipality of the area, which began contacts with the competent state services. The projects will cost several millions, according to preliminary estimates, since the desire of the Municipality of Paralimni - Deryneia is the creation of a perimeter pedestrian street, a bicycle path, squares and new nature observatories.
"There have been four meetings so far with the Environment Service and the Game Service, in order to carry out a study to upgrade the lake. It is a very important project with a very high cost. We submitted a request for the Ministry of Agriculture to grant us the funding for the study. Then we will find European funds, because we are talking about a cost of tens of millions of euros," the mayor, Giorgos Nicolettos, told "F", indicating that the lake has enormous ecological and environmental value and that the goal is to protect it, because it is a unique natural lung of the area. "Lake Paralimni is a point of reference, a wetland very important, not only for Paralimni but for the whole of Cyprus. It has a huge area that covers Paralimni, Deryneia and Sotira", he added, stating that the municipality has requested that the process of expropriations, which had stopped during the period of the economic crisis, be completed. "Also, we want the regeneration of the lake to include the enrichment of the aquifer from the infrastructure project that took place many years ago," he noted.
On February 17, the last meeting on the issue was held at the offices of the municipality, in which officials of the Department of Environment and the Department of Maritime Works participated. The next meeting, according to Mr. Nicolettos, will take place with the Department of Environment next March, on the process of preparing the environmental study.
It is noted that in the area of Paralimni Lake, which is currently crowded with flamingos, an observatory has been created by the municipality and information signs have been placed. In the next period, the creation of a second observatory is expected by the Game Service, "in order to improve the visitor experience and strengthen environmental information".
Lake Paralimni is a natural wetland and one of the few of its kind that remained in Cyprus. Since 2009, it has acquired legal protection status with its inclusion in the Natura 2000 network. The lake is considered very important because it is home to the rare water snake Natrix natrix cypriaca. According to BirdLife Cyprus, 186 species of birds have been recorded in Paralimni Lake, including the flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus. It is, as stated, "an excellent resting station for migratory birds, as well as an area where the species for which the area is protected breed: the Pelocaterina Vanellus spinosus, the White-winged Warbler Himantopus himantopus and the Lesser Spotted Charadrius alexandrinus".
