Environmental organizations are calling for a review of coastal erosion

BirdLife Cyprus, Terra Cypria - The Cyprus Foundation for Environmental Protection and the AKTI Center for Studies and Research are calling for a strategic review of the issue of coastal erosion across Cyprus to identify cases where there is a real problem and need for breakwaters. reason for abusive construction of breakwaters and list the problems they cause in the environment.

As they report, there has been an increased construction of breakwaters, in order to create further sandy beaches, in order to increase the tourist exploitation. But this, they note, causes many problems in the environment. Specifically, as the announcement states, "with the construction of a breakwater, the waves carry the sand from the shore located next to the breakwater to the area in front of it, where it is trapped. This causes erosion on the adjacent shores as the dynamics of the waves are disturbed and consequently the dynamic balance of the wider shore ". This creates, it is noted, "a chain problem which, in order to be solved, requires the construction of more breakwaters, and so on."

In addition, according to environmental organizations, the existence of breakwaters interrupts the natural contact of the coast with the sea, as a result of which sea turtles that come to lay their eggs on our island, find it difficult to access the coast. In addition, in cases where the bottom is rocky then its natural elements disappear completely. The precious Poseidonia - one of the most productive ecosystems in the Mediterranean, which in itself is a powerful natural breakwater, may be threatened by breakwaters, they add.

They also say that the construction of breakwaters requires the extraction of boulders from gorges and mountains which may be located in environmentally sensitive areas and gives the example of quarries in the community of Androlikou, located right next to the Natura 2000 protected area of ​​the Akama Peninsula.

The organizations propose to reconsider strategically and on a pan-Cypriot basis, as well as in the context of Marine Spatial Planning, the issue of coastal erosion, to identify cases where there is a real problem, to assess in depth the environmental impact and where it is absolutely necessary to build breakwaters. At the same time, do not rule out the removal of breakwaters where needed.

KYPE source