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It has been a busy year for the LIFE Oroklini project partners, as 2014 was the final year of project implementation. The project officially ended on 31 December 2014 while a few things still remain to be completed...
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Following the success of the workshop for teachers that took place at Oroklini last April, a second workshop was organised at the new facilities of the Akrotiri Environment and Information Centre on Thursday, 4 December (2014)...
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In an effort to make Oroklini Lake more visitor friendly, the Department of Public Works after a request from the Game and Fauna Service and in cooperation with the Voroklini Community Council is undertaking works to create a pedestrian crossing on the main road that ...
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A Project Officer from the Game and Fauna Service visited Tour du Valat, France as foreseen by the project, on 20 – 25 Octoberto exchange experience and gain knowledge on wetland restoration and management..
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During late September 2014, BirdLife Cyprus completed the second and final round of management works on site as part of the LIFE Oroklini project. These works included ..
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In order to exchange experience and gain knowledge on wetland restoration and management, the LIFE Oroklini project coordinator from BirdLife Cyprus visited the BirdLife partner in Slovenia (DOPPS) in ...
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As part of the EU funded LIFE Oroklini project management works will start on 22/09/2014. The works aim to improve the nesting conditions for Oroklini birds. More specifically..
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On 22 July, around 50 people joined the LIFE Oroklini project partners for a special occasion, an Open Day for Oroklini Lake. The event began with birdwatching at Oroklini Lake and people were excited to see Flamingos, Spur-winged Lapwings, Spoonbills, Glossy Ibises and many other species through telescopes and binoculars!
Radio Proto covered the event with ....
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On 6 May 2014, the European Commission visited the LIFE Oroklini project for the scheduled check of the project. According to the LIFE program guidelines, such visits take place at least once in the duration of a project. The purpose of the visit was to ...
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As of 17 March 2014 the information kiosk at Oroklini Lake has an Officer!
The Information Kiosk Officer, hired by the Voroklini Community Council as foreseen by the LIFE Oroklini project, is responsible for the operation of the information kiosk, so that the information kiosk becomes the focal point for visitors ...
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Visitors at Oroklini Lake will soon be able to enjoy the site thanks to the two new infrastructures created on site, as part of the LIFE Oroklini project.
South of the Lake, the Game and Fauna Service has built a birdwatching hide...
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The Job Opening for the Information Officer closed on 27 February 2014.
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In order to showcase the importance of Oroklini Lake and its rich wildlife, the Environment Department coordinated the production of a 15-minute documentary, as part of the LIFE Oroklini project, titled “Oroklini Lake – a wetland of Pan-European ecological importance”.
The filming lasted about a year ...
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With the end of 2013 approaching, some of the most important actions for the conservation of Oroklini Lake have been completed as part of the LIFE Oroklini project.
The Game and Fauna Service has erected a wooden fence in two sections of the lake...
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The Water Management Works are currently under way at Oroklini Lake as part of the LIFE Oroklini project. The aim of these works is to create safe nesting locations for the bird species that nest on site by creating nesting islets and by ensuring suitable levels of water during the breeding season (spring)...
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The exhibition titled “Oroklini Lake all through the year” is organised as part of the LIFE project “Restoration and Management of Oroklini Lake”. The aim of the exhibition is to spread the message about the importance and the need to protect Oroklini Lake.
The 92 images exhibited were selected ...
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Through a two-day workshop organised on 31 October and 1 November 2013, the LIFE Oroklini project provided a great opportunity to bring together experts on managing wetlands for birds.
BirdLife Cyprus organised the networking workshop entitled “Managing Wetlands for Birds” with invited experts from five BirdLife International partners...
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The Oroklini Lake Clean-up day proved to be a very successful event with around 170 volunteers joining the efforts of the LIFE Oroklini project partners, to clean and restore Oroklini Lake. Many local organised groups, groups from schools of the area and Larnaca district, individuals from across the island, adults and children, as well as...
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Some of the most important conservation actions foreseen by the LIFE Oroklini project will be starting soon at Oroklini Lake. Among other threats, the lake suffers from vehicles and people entering the site and causing disturbance to nesting birds, as well as from lack of water management. The management works that will be starting soon and which will finish by the end of November (2013) will address the abovementioned problems...
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In order to see first-hand how wetland restoration and management works are done abroad, an officer working on the project and the project coordinator from BirdLife Cyprus visited seven nature reserves in the United Kingdom (UK). Six of the reserves are owned by the BirdLife partner in the UK, RSPB, and one by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). RSPB has great experience in managing wetlands for the benefit of birds; it has over 200 nature reserves and manages 654 hectares of reedbeds...
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The photo competition ‘Oroklini Lake all through the year’, organised as part of the LIFE Oroklini project, ended on 31 May with around 200 entries from 42 photographers, and many different views of Oroklini Lake and the wildlife found there.
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To determine the exact water management works to be carried out as part of the LIFE OROKLINI project, a reserves ecologist visited Oroklini Lake from RSPB (BirdLife UK) this May. RSPB has extensive experience in managing wetlands for the protection of birds as well as in transforming them to nature reserves for the public to visit and enjoy nature. Indicatively, RSPB manages more than 140,000 hectares of land for nature conservation and half of UK’s reedbeds. This was the second visit of the expert at Oroklini Lake since July 2012...
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LIFE Oroklini project coordinator from BirdLife Cyprus, Melpo Apostolidou, travelled to Crete to present at a workshop the project for the protection of Oroklini Lake as a good example of restoration and management of a natural wetland. The workshop was organised by WWF Greece and Chersonissos Municipality as part of WWF’s project on “Wetland protection on Aegean islands", and an effort to protect Malia wetland in Chersonissos area, Crete...
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In order to highlight the importance of Oroklini Lake and the LIFE project implemented to protect this unique wetland the Environment Department has prepared a leaflet and a sticker for the LIFE project “Restoration and Management of Oroklini Lake”.
The information material produced as part of the LIFE project is a useful tool for raising public awareness for Oroklini weland...
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From 1 February until 31 May all nature photographers, amateurs or professionals, are invited to submit their photos of Oroklini Lake. If you haven’t taken any photographs yet, there is still time to do so. Winter and even more so spring are ideal for capturing landscapes, flowers, insects and especially birds. During winter, Oroklini Lake is full of ducks and other waterbirds such as flamingos and herons, while spring is ideal for capturing the two important species of Oroklini, theSpur-winged Lapwing and Black winged Stilt. You can’t miss these two species at Oroklini as they are very active during the breeding season, choosing their nesting territory and their partner, and sitting on their nests. Participation in the contest is free.
A prize of 1,000 euros will be awarded to..
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The cemented landscape that the flea market left behind on leaving Oroklini Lake in 2012 now belongs to the past. The hope is that the Spur-winged Lapwing, one of the two qualifying species for the site, will return to that area to build its nest...
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The damaged caused to Oroklini’s wildlife by the flea-market is being restored thanks to the EU funded LIFE project for the conservation of this important wetland. The Game and Fauna Service which is the leader beneficiary of this ground-breaking project has just started the restoration works.
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In early November, the Department of Forests started removing Acacia bushes from Oroklini Lake as foreseen by the LIFE project ‘Restoration and management of Oroklini Lake’. Acacias are confined in the south east corner of the lake while the plan is to remove all acacia bushes from the site by the end of 2013. Invasive alien species especially Acacia bushes pose a threat to Cyprus’ natural ecosystems...
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The Environment Department which is responsible for creating awareness raising material for Oroklini Lake and the LIFE project has already put procedures in place so that the first material is produced. So, the filming for the production of a documentary for the lake has already started. The 10 minute video will be available in autumn 2013 and will be promoted through, environment and educational centres, schools and environmental events.
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Oroklini Lake and its rich wildlife are getting the positive profile they deserve, thanks to some new and attractive information panels.
As part of the LIFE OROKLINI project for the protection of Oroklini Lake the Game and Fauna Service, which is the lead beneficiary, has just placed three information panels around the lake. The purpose of these panels is to raise visitors’ awareness of the importance of Oroklini Lake and the activities of the LIFE OROKLINI project...
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The members of the Steering Committee of LIFE Oroklini project met for the second time on 10 September (2012) at the Voroklini Community Council building. The project foresees that the project’s Steering Committee will meet twice a year to coordinate actions between partners and improve communication in order to aid the success of the project...
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The report from the workshop on Favourable Reference Values (FRVs) that was held in 21 and 22 June 2012, in Larnaca, has been completed and is available here.
With the completion of the workshop report the first action of the LIFE OROKLINI project is completed!
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A brand new 4x4 Skoda Yeti car was delivered to BirdLife Cyprus last month thanks to the LIFE project ‘Restoration and Management of Oroklini Lake’. BirdLife Cyprus has a key coordinating role in the OROKLINI LIFE project and the car will be primarily used to cover the needs of the project, such as site visits and meetings. This model has the lowest CO2 emissions ...
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The right water management of Oroklini Lake is one of the concrete conservation actions of the LIFE Oroklini project as it is very important for the lake’s two target species, the Spur-winged Lapwing and the Black-winged Stilt. This action will aim to ensure adequate water supply for these two key species so as to achieve Favourable Conservation Status for the lake. Furthermore, this action will ensure that the lake becomes more resistant to droughts and to other effects of climate change...
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BirdLife Cyprus -as the partner responsible for the implementation of this action- organised a 2-day workshop on the methodology for the calculation of the Favourable Reference Values (FRVs) for bird species. The aim of the workshop was to work out a methodology that will contribute to setting a clear target framework in the form of Favourable Reference Values (FRVs) for achieving Favourable Conservation Status (FCS) for Oroklini Lake. The workshop was organised as part of the LIFE+ project “Restoration and Management of Oroklini Lake” and was focused on the FRVs for Oroklini’s qualifying species...
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BirdLife Cyprus who is one of the 5 project partners, was once again in Oroklini to talk to 50 pupils from Oroklini Primary School about the importance of Oroklini Lake, and to give them the opportunity to see through telescopes and binoculars the bird species that frequent this amazing wetland.
During the talk, the pupils learnt more about the ecology of the lake, the bird species that visit or nest at the lake...
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A logo has just been created for the promotion of the Oroklini LIFE project. The logo will be used in all the communication material produced for the project, such as a leaflet, a project website, notice boards to be placed at the site, posters for the project etc.
The logo was presented for the first time during...
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LIFE, the EU’s financial instrument for the environment, celebrated its 20th anniversary this May. For the last 20 years Europe’s wildlife and natural resources have been benefitting from the LIFE programme. LIFE is in fact an acronym: L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement (“financial instrument for the environment” in French). The LIFE programme first opened its doors in 1992 aiming to co-finance projects involved in implementing European environmental policy. This work started in the then 12 Member States to create an initial Natura 2000 network. Since then, LIFE has focused more on nature conservation and has reached a wider range of environmental protection and information dissemination services. Today, LIFE is co-financing projects in all 27 Member States where it continues to contribute in a substantial and effective way to nature conservation by addressing contemporary challenges such as biodiversity decline, habitat loss and resource efficiency...
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The External Monitoring Team of LIFE Oroklini has travelled from Athens to Cyprus in order to have its first visit to the project and meet the project’s beneficiaries. As foreseen under the LIFE program, the external team has a monitoring role for all LIFE programs on behalf of the European Commission, and will visit the LIFE Oroklini project once every year during the three years of the project’s implementation. The aim of these visits is for the monitoring team to be kept updated on the progress of the project and to provide support where needed...
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On 2 April, pupils from Highgate and Oroklini Primary Schools had the opportunity to visit Oroklini Lake along with staff from BirdLife Cyprus, and to discover the rich birdlife the lake holds, especially at this time of year.
54 first grade pupils from Oroklini School were quite amazed to see the Black-winged Stilt and the Spur-winged Plover through telescopes and binoculars. These two bird species, which are the qualifying species for the Special Protection Area (SPA) of Oroklini Lake, had just started to form pairs and were getting ready to nest...
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The members of the LIFE Oroklini project Steering Committee had their first meeting on 27March 2012 at the Game Fund’s head offices to discuss the progress of the project and to coordinate the next actions. The members of the Committee are staff members from the five beneficiaries of the project (Game Fund, BirdLife Cyprus, Environment Department, Department of Forests and Voroklini Community Council), as well as staff members from the Water Development Department (WDD)...
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