Akamas Peninsula Paphos
The Akamas peninsula in Cyprus is by far the most beautiful location on the entire island. Located in the west of Cyprus, the Akamas peninsula covers approximately 230 square km and is where you will find wild untouched landscape, amazing natural beauty, deep gorges, and stunning sandy bays.
Named after the son of Theseus who was famed for his part in the Trojan wars, the Akamas peninsula is home to an amazing 530 plant species and is of great interest to botanists and is also an area of ecological significance. 126 of the plant species found on the Akamas peninsula are endemic to Cyprus and because this area has a unspoilt landscape these plants thrive.
The wide variety of fauna found on the Akamas peninsula is very impressive. Here you can find 168 different varieties of birds, 12 different mammals, 20 different reptiles, and 16 different butterfly species. In addition to all the different species habitats that can be found here, the Akamas peninsula is also extremely important due to its diverse community habitats. These include pine and juniper forests, maquis forests, gorges, cliffs, and sand dunes.
Some of the endemic plant species that can be found on the Akamas peninsula include the Alyssum, Odontides cypria, Rubia laurea, tulipa cypria, crocus veneris, bosea cypria, sedum cyprium, and Taraxacum aphrogenes.
Lara Bay located in the Akamas peninsula is an extremely important turtle breeding ground and here you can find the green turtles and hawks-bill turtles. These turtles are on the endangered species list and Lara Bay is a safe haven for them. The Akamas peninsula has been included in the European Council’s protection programme and it was recommended that this are be treated as a biosphere reserve that is to include a large National Park area. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have also campaigned to have the Akamas Peninsula declared a National Park area in order to protect the large amount of unique fauna that can be found here.
Because of its beauty the Akamas peninsula is under constant threat from property developers who are waiting to exploit the area.