Decree No. 159 of 2026 on the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife (Management and Protection of the Special Conservation Area “Lefkara Area – CY6000005”).

This Decree, made by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment under subsection (2) of section 15 of the Nature and Wildlife Protection and Management Laws of 2003, applies to the Special Conservation Area of Lefkara, detailed in the attachment. The purpose of this Decree is to conserve, protect and manage the Special Conservation Area, in order to maintain a good degree of conservation and non-degradation of the habitats and its species, in accordance with the priority measures for the SAC established by paragraph 17 of the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife (Priority Measures for Special Areas of Conservation) Decree of 2015. This Decree describes the following actions for the management of the Special Conservation Area: updating of the 2009 management plan and preparation of the monitoring plan; updating data on habitats, species and their habitats; execution of small-scale projects and works aimed at improving, maintaining and/or restoring landscape features; preserving clusters of natural vegetation on the edges of agricultural plots; reinforcement plantings or sowings of typical and structural species, in order to strengthen existing populations of plant species; controlling grazing for the maintenance and restoration of habitat types; implementation of fire protection measures; controlling actions of problematic plant and animal species; monitoring actions and timely response to invasive alien species; promoting environmental education, information and awareness-raising public opinion.
The Decree also specifies prohibited activities within the Special Conservation Area: change of land use including the clearing of natural vegetation, the establishment of crops that require intensive use of fertilisers and pesticides, the sealing of the soil; clearing, destruction and removal of wild vegetation, excluding the management of invasive alien species; opening or construction or creation of new roads and/or paths; planting of species alien to the native flora species that make up the habitats, as well as invasive alien species, excluding those cultivated on agricultural lands; removal, collection, cutting, uprooting or destruction of the plant species that make up the habitats, such as the destruction of individual olive or carob trees. or Scots pine, or of the flora species of community interest listed in the attachment; the lighting of fires and causing fires in any way; extraction of any material and/or quarrying within the Zone; the disposal of solid and liquid waste and the deposit of garbage and the pollution of the area; the afforestation of agricultural land; the harassment, capture, killing or any treatment of the fauna species; the intentional destruction or collection of eggs and/or hatchlings of the fauna species; the use of pesticides and herbicides and other plant protection products; the intentional damage and/or destruction of environmental protection.