Hier ein Artikel aus der Cyprus-Mail über die neuesten Ereignisse um den Zankapfel "Akamas":

Government must stand firm on Akamas
(archive article - Friday, May 25, 2007)

AGAIN, fires burned in the Akamas on Wednesday, most likely started by arsonists. Fingers have been pointed at local communities, incensed at the recent declaration of the peninsula as a national park and the restrictions imposed on building development around their villages.
Indeed, community leaders had earlier made ominous threats that they “had ways to make the government run” and would take “dramatic” action to mark their opposition to the Akamas plan.

Today, they vehemently deny starting the fires, even suggesting that others had done so to cast the blame on them. “Who is to say that environmentalists who oppose the plan are not responsible for this?” asked Inia village leader Savvas Charalambous.

This is patently absurd, but, until proved guilty, we must accept that razing the Akamas forest to the ground was not one of dramatic actions planned by the local authorities, though it is not far fetched to speculate that such fiery talk may have inspired individuals to take matters into their own hands.

Whoever is responsible, the government must stand firm in its declared intent. For one thing, it cannot give in to blackmail. Indeed, the fact that ministers do so often capitulate in the face of violent protest can only have encouraged those responsible for this week’s fires.

But beyond that stands an issue of principle. The Akamas is an area of rare natural beauty. It is just about the only stretch of coastline in the free areas of Cyprus not to have been scarred by the concrete eyesore of ramshackle development. Already, the government has dithered for far too long on the issue, allowing encroaching tourist development on the fringes of the Akamas, development that has already compromised the unique character of the area. At a time of increasing global awareness of the environment, Cyprus has a duty to protect a unique natural habitat for generations to come.

The irony is that villagers’ calls to jump onto the tourism bandwagon come at a time when the industry is in critical decline. Cyprus has far more tourist accommodation than it has tourists, and the last thing it needs is more. Indeed, if anything is to be salvaged, not just in environmental, but also in economic terms, it will be through the higher end tourism generated by attractions like a national park.

Already, both entrances into Akamas, at Coral Bay in the West and Latsi in the north, have degenerated into the ugly mess so typical of our tasteless, haphazard tourist product. Any further encroachment will surely kill off the Akamas forever. For what is the attraction of an enclave of nature when it is so greedily being devoured by advancing bulldozers? If the government gives in, we’ll lose the nature, and in the end we’ll lose the tourists. All that will be left is concrete.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007

Wer sich über das "Akamas" ausführlicher informieren und sich evtl. sogar für dessen Erhalt engagieren will, kann dies auf der folgenden Seite tun: http://www.conservation.org.cy/akamas/akamas.htm