Vulnerabilities - Cyprus

The coastline of Cyprus is 735 km, of which about 385 km are under Turkish occupation, since 1974. 110 km of the coastline (30%) under control of the Republic of Cyprus is subject to erosion (1).

Erosion is considered to be a greater threat than flooding for Cyprus, the sandy and gravel beaches of the island being the most vulnerable ones. The coastline is already subject to erosion, as a result of human activities such as sand mining, dam and illegal breakwater construction and urbanisation. Climate change impacts could
exacerbate coastal erosion (1). Increased erosion and sea level rise could worsen the serious problem that Cyprus faces with seawater penetration to coastal aquifers and their salination (2).

Adaptation strategies - Cyprus

The following adaptation measures have been recommended (2):

• Existing and new coastal developments/infrastructure should include adaptation measures to account for sea level rise and coastal erosion;
• An inventory of coastal areas already suffering from erosion as well as those vulnerable to erosion must be prepared;
• The measures already taken to combat coastal erosion must be evaluated and the possibility of other suitable measures to combat erosion should be examined, like the protection of wetlands and sand dunes;
• Ecosystem‐based adaptation and sustainable use of ecosystem services and natural resources must be promoted.

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Cyprus.

1. European Commission - Cyprus (2009), in: Shoukri and Zachariadis (2012)
2. Shoukri and Zachariadis (2012)