IT IS possible to achieve economic growth while preserving Cyprus’ natural qualities, participants attending a conference on EU environmental policy yesterday agreed.
Yesterday’s session marked the final day of the two-day seminar, entitled ‘European Union environmental policy and implications for Cyprus’.
Nevertheless, the political process looms as the biggest obstacle to achieving goals, which, according to all experts present, are technologically and financially within reach.
"Sustainable development" was the buzzword heard over and over again yesterday to refer to a balance of economic growth and environmental conservation. The term was applied to such diverse topics as creating liveable cities, reducing energy needs and promoting environmentally friendly industry.
Managing tourism and natural parks on the Akamas peninsula also figured prominently in the discussion. Varnavas Lambrou, from the technical Chamber of Cyprus, stressed that, "promoting tourism and preserving environment and quality of life for locals are not incompatible goals and yield positive economic results."
The chamber is looking for a scheme of development that would avoid what Lambrou referred to as the "sea, sex and sun" type of tourism. Such luxury hotel, big-infrastructure development is disastrous for the environment as well as the tourism industry itself, since it eventually destroys the natural beauty that most attracts visitors in the first place.
He presented the Delta de l’Ebre Park in Spain as a healthy alternative example. Despite the absence of luxury hotels or extensive infrastructure, this 320 square kilometre natural park is able to attract two million tourists a year. Many small tracts of land are set aside as conservation areas, small in size, but valuable for scientific and environmental interest. At the same time, all indication was that the project improved the economic well-being of the local population while keeping their culture intact.
While many present criticised this comparison with the Akamas as inexact, Lambrou insisted it did show some ways to develop the peninsula. The area of Akamas is in economic decline, prompting villagers to plead for tourism development and officials to grant building relaxations for hotels. Many are worried that if this trend continues, short-term profits will ruin the natural beauty of the area and threaten endangered species.
The challenge, said Lambrou, was to get the various groups with a stake in the peninsula’s development to sit down to find a solution, a suggestion easier said than done when supporters of tourism and natural reserves currently find themselves at odds.
The example of Akamas begs the question of how larger frameworks such as those offered by the EU can help resolve community issues. The ability for supra-governmental organisations to provide ideas and guidance suggests the cliché "think globally, act locally", as one speaker argued yesterday. This means that ultimate responsibility will, as before, fall on local governments to take the toughest decisions. As one member of the conference stated, "It is up to local authorities to act; agencies can only think and attain a global view of the situation".
