The results of the questionnaire in Nicosia District - Cyprus

Transcription

1 The results of the questionnaire in Nicosia District - Cyprus Nicosia Development Agency (ANEL) Second Exchange of Experience Seminar Budapest, 11-12, October, 2012

2 2 The Results in General

3 Natura 2000 site and/or network: The terrestrial Natura 2000 network covers 28.4% of the total area of Cyprus (the % corresponds to the area of Cyprus where the acquits is applied at present, according to Protocol 10 of the Accession Treaty of Cyprus) and its marine protected areas make up 0.56% of its total territorial waters. Around 14% of the flora in Cyprus is threatened with extinction. The loss of this free service also leads to a decline in other essential services such as the production of fibre and medicines, regulation of water, air and climate quality, maintenance of soil fertility and cycling of nutrients. Climate change has already had severe consequences to Cyprus water scarcity, desertification, increase frequency in wildfires and forest deterioration. Cyprus will experience further and more severe desertification within the next 100 years due to increasing temperatures and further reduction of precipitation. CEDAR VALLEY TROODOS NATIONAL FOREST PARK 3

4 4 Natura 2000 site and/or network: Designation In Cyprus terrestrial Natura 2000 designation is almost complete. There are currently 41 SCIs and 29 SPAs. Problems exist however, as a number of the designated sites have smaller boundaries than the equivalent IBAs, especially for the cases of Akamas Peninsula and Paphos Plains for which a case was opened by the EC. Conservation The development of Natura 2000 management plans is not obligatory. The plans are developed by consultancies through tenders opened by the Environment Department. Management plans are only produced for SCIs and are not legally binding. Provisions from management plans are integrated in Ministerial Decrees. 25 of the 41 foreseen Management plans have been developed so far, but only 3 have Ministerial Decrees. Most management plans are not implemented and are of poor quality because of a lack of guidance from the Environment Department, a lack of knowledge of the sites or a lack of inclusion of useful measures by the consultancies drafting the plans. Financing The Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Departments secured funds in their government budgets for drafting management plans. Funds for management plans implementation are available only from the Forestry Department and thus only concern state forest land. Drafting and implementing management plans is also funded by LIFE+. The Agriculture Department is not involved in funding Natura 2000 and Natura 2000 payments for farmers are not implemented. The cost of Natura 2000 funding was overestimated in past calculations[1] and thus the true funding needs remain to be estimated. There will be some work done on a Prioritized Action Framework by the end of Under the Rural Development Programme, Cyprus has been funding a farm modernization scheme, which in practice has been supporting agricultural intensification (e.g. greenhouses) without there being adequate environmental safeguards in place. Furthermore, Cyprus has been distributing funds per hectare (Pillar I Common Agricultural Policy payments) without any link to effective cross-compliance and thus being untargeted farming support for often damaging agricultural practices. Cyprus has yet to establish Natura 2000 payments for its farmers. Furthermore, Agri-environment schemes in Cyprus are still not specialized enough to support the environment or nature in Natura 2000.

5 Cyprus NATURA 2000 Network Areas SCI: Sites of Community Importance SCI & SPA SPA: Special Protection Areas Build Up Areas 5 Community Boundaries

6 OWNERSHIP OF TERRESTRIAL PART OF SCIs 75% state forest land 15 % other government land 10 % non-government land KAVO GREKO 6

7 Natura 2000 site and/or network: WEAKNESSES Little tradition in Nature Conservation (low funding and resources) Oppositions & reservations by land owners of private land Strong perception among the society that every piece of land is potentially a building plot Dispersion of responsibilities between various governmental services (Environment Department, Forestry Department, Fisheries Department etc) Heavy tourist use affecting habitats High fire hazard / Climatic changes likely to have a significant effect (desertification) Limited research on ecology STRONG POINTS Most of the land of SCIs (84%) is state-owned, meaning unobstructed implementation of conservation measures. Very good and up to date information on flora Forest policy and management focused on nonproductive functions of the forest (nature protection and recreation 7

8 SOME OF THE THREATS Natura 2000 site and/or network: FIRE DEVELOPMENT DESERTIFICATION 8

9 Elements of green infrastructure in urban areas: Local Authorities have the will but have no authorization in designing and implementing policies Most urban areas are private Insufficient legal background Bureaucracy in central government s procedures Lack of funds on the specific sector Very low green percentage of urban surface Methodology is completely absent The term and idea of Urban Green Infrastructure is relatively new in Cyprus public awareness is almost zero According to the ECNC analysis of the Flash Euro-barometer Survey (2005)*, 84 % of respondents from Cyprus had never heard of the term biodiversity. Of those who had heard of the term biodiversity, only 6 % knew what it meant. Overall, 42 % of respondents from Cyprus felt that they were either well informed or very well informed about biodiversity loss. A total of 71 % of respondents from Cyprus had never heard of the Natura 2000 network, and of those who had, 8 % knew what it was. Despite not necessarily knowing what it meant, 61 % of respondents from Cyprus, felt that they made personal efforts to protect biodiversity. * Building public education, awareness and participation at: 9

10 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!! NICOSIA DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (ANEL) Address: 57 Giannou Kranidioti, 2235, Latsia, Nicosia, Cyprus Tel: Fax: