Wildlife thrives in the buffer zone between the two parts of Cyprus

Faresia: In a deserted village inside the UN-supervised Cyprus buffer zone, endangered wild sheep and twisted horns raise hope for wildlife, while hope is not yet in sight to unite the divided island.

The wild sheep, a breed of sheep endemic to the island of Cyprus, is one of the breeds in the buffer zone that arose after a conflict split the Greek and Turkish Cypriot groups since the 1960s.

"Wildlife and plant life have flourished due to the lack of human influence," said Salih Gossel, director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences at the Near East University in Northern Cyprus.

"It's like going back in time, to a time that our ancestors saw a hundred years ago," said Gossel, after spotting an orchid growing amid the ruins of a country house in the village of Varesia, about 55 kilometers west of the capital, Nicosia.

In 1974, Turkish forces invaded the northern part of Cyprus, in response to a military coup that sought to link the island to Greece. The coup failed, but the Turkish forces did not withdraw and divided the island into two parts.

The buffer zone includes about three percent of the island's land, and is 180 kilometers long and eight kilometers wide.

 A haven for rare species

Many call this area the "dead zone," a sad reminder of the pending conflict marked by the bullet holes that have left abandoned buildings ever since.

However, the area is not completely empty, as farmers with permits can enter it, while the United Nations peacekeeping forces patrol the dividing line, monitoring the movement of the military, and the movements of smugglers or refugees sometimes trying to cross from north to south.

Environmental expert Iris Chrambedou from the University of Nicosia explains that this area has become a "sanctuary" for rare plants and animals, and a "wildlife corridor" that connects different environments across the island.

She adds that "animals in this region can escape from intense human activity," noting that there are between 200 and 300 sheep in the Faresia region, or one-tenth of the estimated number of 3000.

Two brian sheep peer through a large olive grove, waving their tails, before being approached by wildlife experts escorted by Argentine troops from the United Nations peacekeeping force.

And the wild lamb, a national symbol on the verge of extinction, is not the only species found in the area.

Chrampidu notes the presence of threatened plants, including orchids, rare reptiles and endangered mammals such as the Cypriot spiny mouse.

Experts say this shows how a war-ravaged environment could recover if given the opportunity.

“When human activity is light in a certain area, nature recovers,” Charalampidou explains.

Gossel agrees, referring to the use of herbicides outside the buffer zone, and to orchid harvesting.

As political leaders engage in their feuds, the island's wildlife has helped sow the seeds of cooperation between both sides of the dividing line.

"The political situation on the island is still difficult," said Alim Siddik, a spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus, but "there is a lot of work in the field of peacebuilding that can be done at the grassroots level."

A common goal

As part of this work, a UN-supported project to identify “hots of biodiversity” within the buffer zone brought together scientists from the two groups.

"One of the goals of our project was to get the environmentally conscious people in the two communities to collaborate with each other," Gossel says.

“We have a common purpose and interest,” Charalampido explains, as she gazes at yellow flowers piercing rust-filled barbed wire.

A large number of the island's residents refrain from contacting the other side, which indicates a separation between the two groups, which each have a separate path and future.

"The more we can get the two groups to work together, the more we will be able to bring them together around issues of common interest, and this will not only benefit the environment, but the peace process as well," says Siddik.

It is impossible to ignore the history of the partition that took place in Cyprus. On the hilltops above Varesia, soldiers on both sides watch from the fortified towers.

Below, Gossel and Chrampidou follow the path of a wild sheep making its way through an almond grove.

“People working on environmental issues are usually so passionate about it that when they get together they talk about it, and they don’t bother to talk about other issues,” she says, adding that this “unifies people.”(AFP)