A Natura 2000 sanctuary of Mediterranean wilderness on Cyprus's wild northwest peninsula.
Chersonisos Akama
Chersonisos Akama is a Fauna-Flora-Habitat (FFH) and Natura 2000 protected area covering the greater part of the Akamas Peninsula and its surrounding waters at the far northwest of Cyprus. It is one of the finest surviving examples of eastern Mediterranean ecosystems, where a mosaic of habitats is compressed into a relatively small area: Calabrian pine and Phoenician juniper woodlands, olive and carob maquis, phrygana scrub, serpentine grasslands with endemic plants, sea-cliffs, sand beaches, dune systems, Posidonia seagrass meadows, underwater caves, and offshore reefs.
Within this diversity, the area shelters remarkable concentrations of wildlife, including the Mediterranean monk seal, loggerhead and green sea turtles, endemic plants such as Centaurea akamantis and the Cyprus tulip, and around 160 bird species, from raptors like the golden eagle and peregrine falcon to migratory herons and Cyprus-endemic passerines such as the Cyprus wheatear and Cyprus warbler.
Established as an FFH site on 1 September 2009 and sitting in the Paphos district of the Republic of Cyprus, Chersonisos Akama is both an ecological stronghold for the island and a key node in Europe's Natura 2000 network, protecting habitats that have already lost much of their former extent elsewhere in the Mediterranean.