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Nature in Cyprus
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Nature in Cyprus
The Cyprus
government has recently declared Cyclamen the national flower of Cyprus. We will
have added a page on Cyclamen. We have been out taking lots of great
photos of Cyprus wild flowers such as anemones and wild orchids that can be
found around Kalavasos and Limassol suburbs which we have added to the site.
We plan to go out again in the spring of 2007 to see what we can find to add
to the pages. Meanwhile if you have anything which you think may be
relevant to our pages, on Nature please feel free to contact us.
Cyprus is an island rich in
natural history. There is a lot to see and do.
Below is an article written for us by a friend from the
UK who now lives in Cyprus and spends her time exploring
the islands wealth of nature. |
One of the things I
love most about Cyprus is the wonderful "outdoors". I don't just
mean the sea and the mountains - though both are splendid - but
the expanses of unspoiled countryside still to be found in this
rapidly developing island, with the birds, animals and plants
which inhabit them. There is always something to find, and to
marvel at, whatever the season.Because we have so much pleasant weather, I particularly
enjoy taking a picnic, or just a flask of coffee, and spending
time exploring, often using one of the nature trails to be found
in all areas of the island. I have met and exchanged information
with many others, visitors to the island as well as residents,
who are following their particular interest; birdwatchers,
particularly at the migration times in spring and autumn,
botanists looking at the wonderful year-round display of plants,
and those who are walking for the pleasure of seeing the
non-human world around us.
What have been the particular highlights for me? I
remember being in Phasouri when about 4000 Common Cranes flew in
and landed; the noise was deafening, and definitely not
everyone's idea of pleasure! But everyone who passed stopped to
admire the dozen Mute Swans swimming on the small pool near the
football ground in Akrotiri, and the 80 White Pelicans which
landed on Yermasoyeia Dam when the water was low, and feasted on
the fish trapped there. Then there are the thousands of Cyclamen
which appear every year in the Akamas and elsewhere, and the
tiny Paper-white Narcissi. But I have to place at the top of my
list finding an orchid which had only once before been seen in
Cyprus, forty years earlier, so that everyone thought it had
gone for ever; it was the beautiful Orchis papilionacea, known
as the Pink Butterfly. That really was a memorable moment for
me, but everyone who spends time out of doors here will have
their own memories, and probably their own photographs, too.
Pamela Scraton
Cyprus Orchids
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We have some great
mountain trails
you can explore to experience the nature of Cyprus
Akamas is an area of incomparable natural beauty.
Almost all the geological formations found on the island are present in the
area. About 600 plant species can be found there of which 35
are endemic. There is also a large amount of fauna here. (More information on
the flora and fauna of Cyprus can be found at
http://www.natureof cyprus.org also on birds, mammals butterflies and lots
more) There are also 168 bird species, 12 mammals, 20
reptiles and butterfly species of which the endemic Glaucopsyche pafos butterfly
is said to be the symbol of the area.
As for the Troodos region, over 770 plant species have managed to survive making
Troodos National Forest Park the richest botanical garden of Cyprus. The area's geology is of worldwide importance.
The world's best preserved ophiological complex is studied by scientists with a
view to achieving an understanding of how the ocean's crust was created 90
million years ago at the bottom of a vast ocean known to geologists as the "Sea
of Tethys". Along the trails, samples of plutonic rock can be seen.
These were created by the crystallization of magma which took place 2000-6000 m
under the bottom of the ocean. |
If you like fishing
there are lots of
Dams in
Cyprus and Kalavasos Dam is
situated just above
Kalavasos village
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The forests are particularly beautiful all year round.
Cedar valley is well worth a visit.prus
and spends her time exploring the islands wealth of
nature. |
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