SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
New Environmental Centre for Cyprus
The new Environment Centre now open to visitors © Thomas Hadjikriakou
In November last year a state-ofthe-art
environmental centre was
offcially opened in Cyprus thanks
to collaboration between Defence
Infrastructure Organisation, the
Sovereign Base Area, the Ministr y
of Education and Culture, and the
Akrotiri community.
The Centre, which was designed and
built in a year by Interserve Defence
Limited (IDL) embraces some of the
most innovative and environmentally
friendly building concepts, including a
photovoltaic system on the roof which
provides approximately 50% of its
energy requirements.
The Centre operates in a framework of
cooperation between the Sovereign
Base Areas, the Ministry of Education
and Culture, and Akrotiri Community.
The primary purpose of the Centre is
to promote the unique environmental
and cultural significance of Akrotiri
Peninsula through environmental
programmes and exhibits.
The Centre welcomes local schools,
groups, individuals and families, and
more than 10,000 school children
are participating in the educational
programmes every year; this number
is expected to increase. The Centre has
an exhibits room, laboratory, a room for
presentations and conferences, a library,
a bird observation area, botanical trail,
playground and other ancillary facilities.
As well as this fully equipped building,
activities can be held outside on the field.
All facilities are suitable for people with
impaired mobility and entrance is free.
Visitors can learn a great deal from the
surrounding area which includes the
wetland system of Akrotiri Salt Lake
and Akrotiri Marsh, the latter of which is
designated as a wetland of international
importance under the Ramsar
Convention and is now one of only two
Ramsar sites of the island. A large part of
the Peninsula has been designated as a
Special Protection Area for Birds and is a
candidate Special Area of Conservation
for habitats and flora and fauna species
as part of the provisions of the NATURA
2000 Network.
The area also boasts 27 natural
habitat t ypes (22 terrestrial and
5 marine) and 800 plant species,
many of which are endemic or rare
for Cyprus have been recorded.
Approximately 300 bird species have
also been recorded on the Peninsula;
some are resident birds, while others
are breeding migrator y species.
There are 20,000 flamingos which
overwinter in the area each year.
Akrotiri beaches are some of the
few nesting sites on the island for
loggerhead and green turtles, which
are endangered Mediterranean
species. Important species of
mammals have also been recorded
such as seals, dolphins and bats as well
as a variety of invertebrate species.
During the opening, Maj Gen
Cripwell said: “ This is confirmation
that we now have the best facilities to
enable further constructive collaboration
of the many separate organisations
involved in presenting the outstanding
environmental importance of the Akrotiri
Peninsula and other important features
of the SBAs and beyond.
“The centre is a unique shared facility,
whereby teachers and children
from the Republic of Cyprus will join
others from the SBA and those in the
Akrotiri community, to participate in
environmental education programmes
and research.”
Environmental Department
DIO Cyprus and SBAA
58
Sanctuary 44 • 2015