The European Commission denounced that the exception of thousands of hectares of land in Akamas from the proposed Natura protection zone is attributable to private interests that led the Republic of Cyprus to do so.
In a recent letter to the Cypriot authorities, the Commission blamed Cyprus for breaching the European directives for Akamas. It supports that the state left the caretta-carreta and the unique – in Europe – Egyptian bat out of the protection zone.
In its letter, the Commission noted that the Cypriot authorities referred to non-scientific reasons that affected the preparation of the protected areas and led to the cutting up of the protected Akamas in eight different and not connected areas.
The background
Vial the Life program, the Cypriot government had determined a land of 25,541 hectares as a suitable area. The determination of the boundaries was based on scientific criteria.
Since then, more criteria emerged that made the protected area smaller to 18,082 hectares, which were recommended by the Republic in 2010 as Sites of Community Interest.
57% of them are land and 43% sea.
This means that the area that the Republic recommended to include in the protection zone is 7.5 thousand hectares smaller than the one that according to the scientific data must be protected.
In its letter to Foreign Minister, Marcos Kyprianou, released by StockWatch today, the Commission emphasized that this violation on behalf of the Republic concerns the insufficient character of the list of recommended sites of community interest and the insufficient definition of the boundaries of Akamas as SCI.
The European Commission supports that the Republic violated its obligations pursuant to articles 3 paragraph 1 and 4 of directive 92/43EK for the maintenance of the natural sites as well as the wild flora and fauna.
According to the EC, the breaches focus on:
The fact that the Republic of Cyprus has not sent on an exhaustive list of the SCI and that the proposed SCI does not cover sufficiently the various biological kinds and ecological dwellings without offering new scientific data to justify the exceptions or to upgrade the existing data. This means that the exception of a big part of the Akamas areas is not based on scientific criteria.
It also denounced the Cypriot authorities for excluding areas that should have been included in the SCI of Akamas for reasons of non-scientific character.
Local interests
In its letter, the Commission also referred to several expediencies.
It noted that exceptions in the protected area concern private lands mostly and stressed that the Cypriot authorities themselves in the answers that they gave “they seem to imply that certain socio-economic reasons led to those decisions”.
Citing the relevant maps, the Commission talked about a separation on the basis of arbitrary lines and not scientific criteria.
“Also, it seems that the excluded areas include private properties mostly”, it added.
“The Republic itself has said that it exempted areas from the protection zone because the land was of agricultural use”, it stressed.
The EC urged the government, pursuant to article 258 of the treaty, to submit its remarks on this letter within two months from its receipt.
“After receiving those remarks or if those remarks are not sent on time, the Commission reserves the right to submit a reasoned opinion”, it concluded.
In a recent letter to the Cypriot authorities, the Commission blamed Cyprus for breaching the European directives for Akamas. It supports that the state left the caretta-carreta and the unique – in Europe – Egyptian bat out of the protection zone.
In its letter, the Commission noted that the Cypriot authorities referred to non-scientific reasons that affected the preparation of the protected areas and led to the cutting up of the protected Akamas in eight different and not connected areas.
The background
Vial the Life program, the Cypriot government had determined a land of 25,541 hectares as a suitable area. The determination of the boundaries was based on scientific criteria.
Since then, more criteria emerged that made the protected area smaller to 18,082 hectares, which were recommended by the Republic in 2010 as Sites of Community Interest.
57% of them are land and 43% sea.
This means that the area that the Republic recommended to include in the protection zone is 7.5 thousand hectares smaller than the one that according to the scientific data must be protected.
In its letter to Foreign Minister, Marcos Kyprianou, released by StockWatch today, the Commission emphasized that this violation on behalf of the Republic concerns the insufficient character of the list of recommended sites of community interest and the insufficient definition of the boundaries of Akamas as SCI.
The European Commission supports that the Republic violated its obligations pursuant to articles 3 paragraph 1 and 4 of directive 92/43EK for the maintenance of the natural sites as well as the wild flora and fauna.
According to the EC, the breaches focus on:
The fact that the Republic of Cyprus has not sent on an exhaustive list of the SCI and that the proposed SCI does not cover sufficiently the various biological kinds and ecological dwellings without offering new scientific data to justify the exceptions or to upgrade the existing data. This means that the exception of a big part of the Akamas areas is not based on scientific criteria.
It also denounced the Cypriot authorities for excluding areas that should have been included in the SCI of Akamas for reasons of non-scientific character.
Local interests
In its letter, the Commission also referred to several expediencies.
It noted that exceptions in the protected area concern private lands mostly and stressed that the Cypriot authorities themselves in the answers that they gave “they seem to imply that certain socio-economic reasons led to those decisions”.
Citing the relevant maps, the Commission talked about a separation on the basis of arbitrary lines and not scientific criteria.
“Also, it seems that the excluded areas include private properties mostly”, it added.
“The Republic itself has said that it exempted areas from the protection zone because the land was of agricultural use”, it stressed.
The EC urged the government, pursuant to article 258 of the treaty, to submit its remarks on this letter within two months from its receipt.
“After receiving those remarks or if those remarks are not sent on time, the Commission reserves the right to submit a reasoned opinion”, it concluded.
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1275.09
