A coastal wetland complex on Cyprus protecting salt lakes, saline meadows, and one of the island's most important wintering sites for greater flamingos.
Alykes Larnakas
Alykes Larnakas is a protected wetland complex in the southwest of Cyprus, immediately south of the city of Larnaka. Although it is not a national park in the traditional sense, it is one of the most ecologically significant protected natural areas on the island, formally recognised both as a Site of Community Importance and a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive and as a Special Protection Area for birds.
The site covers a mosaic of the large Larnaka Salt Lake, the smaller Orfani and Soros lakes to the south, treatment lagoons associated with Larnaka's wastewater system, and a surrounding landscape of saline meadows, Mediterranean phrygana scrub, and dry grasslands. Together these habitats form one of the largest coherent wetland landscapes remaining in Cyprus, with a character defined by shallow saline waters, seasonal salt crusts, and arid coastal vegetation.
Alykes Larnakas is particularly valued for its role in supporting migratory and wintering waterbirds. Each winter, large numbers of greater flamingos gather on the salt lake, becoming one of the most recognisable natural spectacles of the Larnaka region. Beyond flamingos, the site supports a broad community of breeding birds, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates, making it a key area for conservation in the eastern Mediterranean.
