Protecting Cyprus' rich biodiversity - Cyprus - Cyprus Weekly 19/6/2015

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Protecting Cyprus' rich biodiversity - Cyprus - Cyprus Weekly 19/6/2015

George Konstantinou has a life-long love of nature he is eager to share with others to best protect Cyprus’ diverse natural heritage.

Konstantinou is founder and president of the NGO ‘Protection of the Natural Heritage and the Biodiversity of Cyprus’. He has also, for over three years now, dedicated the greater part of his day to attempting to find funding for a series of documentaries on Cyprus’ rich biodiversity.

Speaking to the Cyprus Weekly, Konstantinou said: “I do not expect to make a profit from these documentaries but funding is required to cover necessary expenses such as travelling from one side of Cyprus to the other, and for equipment”.

He gave the example of the recent rare flamingo that arrived in Cyprus: “If I had not gone to the spot where it was seen immediately, I may never have had the opportunity to photograph or film it again”.

Konstantinou said he had dedicated 12 hours a day over the past three years to trying to get the documentaries made.

“It took me three years to amass the footage to create a four minute-20 second trailer which I have offered to local television channels for free but they are not interested in screening it.”

Some of Konstantinou’s videos can be seen online on sites such as YouTube and all the photos on this page were taken by him. He described the NGO ‘Protection of the Natural Heritage and the Biodiversity of Cyprus’ as “a handful of people trying to make a difference”.

Konstantinou added: “Very few people are aware of what a variety of life we have in Cyprus. Even when it comes to mammals there are many types that are completely unknown to most people in Cyprus, including the endemic mouse which was discovered just a few years ago.”

This lack of knowledge is the main reason Konstantinou wants the documentaries made: “A lack of awareness leads to acts such as five people rushing to kill a snake which is actually not even at all harmful but even beneficial because it eats dangerous snakes and mice which are harmful to farming.”

He notes this lack of knowledge is not a recent phenomenon but also something that could quite easily be remedied: “For example, a documentary on snakes shown by the media could help teach people which snakes are dangerous and how to distinguish between them.”

Even after speaking to Konstantinou for just a few minutes, it is clear he is a well of knowledge when it comes to animal and plant life in Cyprus.

“As Cyprus rose from the sea millions of years ago, the first land emerged and the first plant life arrived through the sea or was brought here by birds.”

The first animals and reptiles came from neighbouring countries.

“This would have been in the Ice Age when land masses were still closer together and separated by shallow waters and small islands. This meant the distances between them could more easily be crossed by animals. In Cyprus’ case, these included elephants and hippopotamuses, a type of wild cat, some kinds of mice and reptiles,” Konstantinou adds.

Although, when they arrived, the elephants that came to Cyprus were around the same size as elephants today, because of the isolated nature of the island, these animals slowly evolved into a far smaller endemic variety unique to Cyprus.

“These animals lived on the island for thousands of years with no natural enemies. Their numbers grew and, because only so much food was available, they slowly began to shrink from two tons to around 200-250kgs.”  A similar process occurred with the hippos.

Today, only fossils of either of these creatures remain.

“People arrived to populate the island around 12,000 years ago and, at that time, humans did not yet have the ability to raise livestock or cultivate the land and lived solely from hunting. They hunted the hippos and elephants, an important source of food, to extinction,” Konstantinou said.

Some of the small varieties of the animals from that time continue to exist in Cyprus today such as the types of mice, serpents and the wild cat.

“After the elephants and hippos disappeared, people had to do something to be able to live so they brought in animals from neighbouring countries. These were cattle such as wild buffalo and sheep-like animals some of which evolved into the Moufflon.”

Some experts also believe humans brought foxes to Cyprus as there is no proof they existed on the island before people. Also imported was a type of fallow deer which was hunted to extinction around 500 years ago.

Some of the animals escaped and returned to their wild state such as the Moufflon and the deer, Konstantinou said.

“There are a lot of endemic species of life in Cyprus due to its island environment. Because they were isolated, many species evolved into something unique.”

Cyprus today has some 30 types of mammals existing in nature of which 18 are various species of bats. The others include the Moufflon, fox, hare, hedgehog, seal, dolphin, rat and types of mouse.

There are also 22 types of reptiles including eight snakes of which only the Blunt Nosed Viper is dangerous to humans, 11 types of lizards and three types of turtles, one found in fresh water and two found in the sea.

There are three types of frogs, one usually found on trees, one on land and the other in swamps and lakes.

When it comes to insects, over 6,000 types, including 120 kinds of land snails, can be found here of which 540 types are endemic so found only in Cyprus and nowhere else in the world.

The island’s marine life includes 250 types of fish, a figure that is growing due to climate change. As noted by Konstantinou, foreign species are travelling through the Suez Cannel to the Mediterranean as its waters become warmer due to climate change.

“The around 650 types of shells are also growing in number for the same reason,” Konstantinou added, usually with disastrous results for the existing fish and shells.

“Cyprus is at a geographical crossroads so around 400 types of birds can be found year, a number which grows year by year. This year, for example, two types that had never been seen here before were spotted.”

Of the 400, six are endemic, some of which may fly to other countries but all of which reproduce only here. There are 1,900 types of plants in Cyprus of which about 140 are endemic, with more being found by experts at regular intervals. There are also 3,000 types of mushrooms.

Evidently there is a lot more to protect, and a lot for people in Cyprus to learn about its natural heritage and biodiversity, than most of us realise.

To learn more about Cyprus’ natural riches and find out how to contribute to their protection, visit the Facebook pages ‘NGO) “Protection of the Natural Heritage and the Biodiversity of Cyprus”’, ‘Cyprus Fossils’ and three group pages ‘Birds of Cyprus,’ ‘Biodiversity of Cyprus’ and ‘Flora of Cyprus’.

Also visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBROBxegNh2NuXbYvOXu_zQ the ‘george konstantinou’ YouTube channel to see videos created to promote Cyprus’ biodiversity and help make us more aware of its natural wonders.