(Adopted Resolution, 9th EFGP Council, Larnaca, Cyprus, 24-26 March 2000.
Akamas is the best preserved coastal area of Cyprus with turtle breeding beaches and a variety of fauna and flora. Bordering the area there are some villages, which retain a unique architectural character. The EU collaborated with the World Bank and carried out a study and a management plan with the aim to declare the area as National Park. The Government and the Parliament promised to proceed along the lines of the management plan. On the 1st of March the council of Ministers decided to do away with the plan and promote the interests of a major landowner and developer, who wants to create a huge complex in the heart of Akamas. This is the latest in a series of “salami” type destruction of the area by allowing one developer after another to destroy the sensitive beach environment.
It all started with letting a former foreign minister to build a hotel, which was subsequently declared illegal, since the building laws were violated by him and the government.
The Greens proposed that the area is immediately declared a National Park applying the philosophy of the World bank management plan, which suggests protection of the area and alternative forms of development for the villages so that an attractive level of income will be guaranteed.
What is at stake is not only the ecological importance of the area, but also the credibility of the Cyprus government to uphold environmental conversation and stay away from corruption and favoritism.