Every year, flamingos fly to the coastal lakes of Cyprus for the winter. It is a beautiful sight that many people enjoy. This season, the first groups have already arrived at Larnaca Salt Lake. However, experts are worried because the number of flamingos has been going down for the last ten years. Because of this, a new ten-year protection project has just started.
For over twenty years, the Game and Fauna Service and BirdLife Cyprus have counted the birds. Their data shows a clear problem. An officer, Nikos Kassinis, shared the numbers at an international meeting. He said, "From 2013 until now, we see a drop of 14 to 31 percent." While thousands of flamingos still come to Cyprus each winter, the trend is going down.
Experts say people are the main reason for this decline. Droughts make the wetlands smaller. Also, polluted water harms the small animals in the water that flamingos eat. Building projects and other human activities near the lakes are also destroying the flamingos' habitat. Important places like Akrotiri and Larnaca salt lakes are affected.
To help, the new Pandotira Project has begun. The European Union is helping to pay for it. This ten-year plan will study the exact problems and what flamingos need to live in Cyprus. The goal is to use this science to create real actions to protect the birds.
Flamingos are important because they show us if a wetland is healthy. If they are disappearing, it means the wetlands are in trouble. The success of this project is very important. It will not only help the flamingos but also protect Cyprus's natural lakes for the future.