Newsroom
The winter arrival of flamingos has been recorded at Larnaca Salt Lake, one of Cyprus’ most important wetlands. Each year, the island’s wetlands host a significant portion of the Eastern Mediterranean’s migratory flamingo population, with numbers peaking during the colder months.
Experts warn, however, that the species is experiencing a notable decline in Cyprus. Since 2013, their population has fallen by an estimated 14–31%, according to long-term monitoring.
Currently, a few hundred flamingos have reached the island. The Senior Officer of the Game and Fauna Service, Nikos Kasinis, highlighted the five key natural wetlands where flamingos regularly visit or winter: Akrotiri in Limassol, Larnaca Salt Lake, Paralimni Lake, Oroklini Lake, and several lakes in the occupied Famagusta area. Among these, the largest concentrations are found at Larnaca and Akrotiri Salt Lakes, where 5,000-10,000 birds can be observed, representing over 1% of the Eastern Mediterranean population.
Decades of systematic waterbird counts conducted by the Game and Fauna Service and BirdLife Cyprus have revealed this population decline, a trend recently presented at the 4th International Flamingo Symposium in Italy.
Several factors appear to contribute to the drop in flamingo numbers, including repeated droughts, inflows of poor-quality water that reduce available food, development pressures, and human activities around wetlands that disrupt their habitats.
To address these challenges, Cyprus is participating in the Pandoterra Project, a ten-year initiative co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme. The project aims to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding the species’ feeding, nesting, and resting needs, as well as to quantify the threats they face. Flamingos are among the species targeted by this conservation effort.
By understanding these requirements more thoroughly, authorities hope to implement effective conservation measures in designated Special Protection Zones, safeguarding both the flamingos and the wetlands of the Natura 2000 network where they are found.
