Major concerns were raised by BirdLife Cyprus on Friday over the approval for the construction of a new fish farming port in Pentakomos in an area important for the conservation of the Mediterranean Seal, one of the world’s rarest species.

A contract for the project worth almost €34 million was signed earlier this month between the government and a private consortium for the expansion of facilities at Pentakomo in Limassol that will increase the scope of aquaculture in the area.

The €33.9 million project aims to maintain the viability of the island’s aquaculture sector and its further sustainable development and expansion. It is slated for completion in 27 months.

The deal involves the creation of port and land facilities to serve aquaculture farmers in the Pentakomo area. It will include breakwaters with natural and artificial boulders, the dredging of a new port basin, docks and a series of buildings

“We consider that this project was not evaluated in depth,” BirdLife said.

“We believe this goes against all good practice and jurisprudence on nature protection in the EU,” it added.

BirdLife said that from the start, environmental organisations had expressed their opposition in early 2023.

“Unfortunately, our positions were not heard in the end and the project received a positive environmental opinion for its implementation by the department of the environment on June 29, 2023,” it said.

With no option but to go to court, they said, environmental organisations BirdLife Cyprus and Friends of the Earth Cyprus filed a petition for annulment. The litigation is still pending.

BirdLife said that at the same time the audit office had carried out an investigation into the siting of the proposed project and the evaluation of the procedures followed as part of the environmental impact assessment study and the selection criteria for the siting of the port.

In the report published in April 2024, the audit office focused on the selection criteria of the area by the department of the environment and on the non-preparation of a Special Ecological Assessment Study (SEA), and on the extent of the proposed Site of Community Importance along the coastline and came up with various recommendations that were submitted.

“BirdLife Cyprus and Friends of the Earth Cyprus agree with the recommendations of the auditor-general and hope that even after the fact they will be adopted and that another suitable location is found or the implementation of this port, so that one of the rarest species worldwide that our country hosts is not adversely affected,” BirdLife concluded.