Tunnel Beach, Episkopi

 Ian Williamson

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to serve at Episkopi Garrison in the Western Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus during the past 40 years is likely to be familiar with the tunnel which leads from the sports fields in Happy Valley through the limestone cliff beneath Gibraltar Village and down to the sea at Tunnel Beach.

  
Tunnel Beach study area
(Picture: P.Brownridge)

Construction of the Tunnel, which is 350 metres long and perhaps the first road tunnel to be built on Cyprus, commenced in February 1955 just two years after the surrounding land had been acquired by the Ministry of Defence for the expansion of the Episkopi Cantonment. The work was carried out by 32 Fortress Squadron of the Royal Engineers and was completed in September of the same year.

Over the years, the tunnel, the only means of safe access to the beach other than by sea, has come to mean different things to different people. To the Planners and the Loggies, it provides access to a small military harbour facility. To dinghy sailors, it gives access to the Inter Services Yacht Club and to most golfers its whole raison d'etre is to enable them to reach the eighteen hole golf course on the coast. But, to an increasing number of people (including, it is fair to say, some Planners, Loggies, Sailors and Golfers), it also provides access to one of the most interesting conservation areas on the Defence Estate in Cyprus.

All the land beyond the tunnel is generally referred to as Tunnel Beach, not just the shoreline, The area comprises some 80 hectares and is enclosed by 100 metre high cliffs to the north, west and east and by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its location makes it almost unique in the local context; access is controlled, hunting is not allowed, there is little use of chemical substances and activity is generally of a non-damaging nature. Within this special environment there exists a diverse range of flora and fauna which members of the Western Sovereign Base Area Conservation Group and others are seeking to identify and record. The principal aim of the Study is to ensure that the ecological importance and interest of the site is recognised and appropriate protection afforded to it.

The conservation Site Dossier for Tunnel Beach was started about three years ago and is expanding daily. It covers ornithology, botany, entomology, herpetology and mammals and it addresses archaeology. The term 'addresses' is used here because, unusually for Cyprus, there does not seem to be any evidence of organized human settlement or activity within the study area. A visual survey with an archaeologist from the Cypriot Department of Antiquities did reveal a few shards of Late Roman Coarse pottery (5-7th AD) and Red Polished Incised Bronze Age pottery (circa 2000 BC) but it was considered that these had probably fallen, or been thrown, from the cliffs above or been introduced by casual visitors. Being Cyprus, the existence, underground, of more significant archaeology cannot, of course, be ruled out entirely.

Ornithology within the study area is impressive to say the least. The dossier currently lists no fewer than 101 bird species that have been positively identified there. The most obvious of these are, without doubt, the Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus that have made their home on the cliffs that form the backdrop of the golf course. Regular readers of Sanctuary, specifically Editions 24 and 27, may recall that these magnificent birds with their 2.25 metre wingspan used to be common in Cyprus. Records indicate that, in the last century, it was not unusual to see forty or more Griffon Vultures feeding off a single donkey carcass or a hundred or more 'standing in the fields like sheep'. Sadly, their numbers have decreased sharply over the past 50 years until, today, it is estimated that there are probably no more than 45 birds remaining on the whole Island, 36 in the wild and 9 held in captivity for one reason or another. The principal causes for this dramatic decline are thought to be improved pastoral hygiene i.e. fewer carcasses for these carrion eaters to feed on, and poison intended to kill foxes and other vermin entering the food chain. Some, no doubt, have been shot.

 

Griffon Vulture  

The Episkopi colony is now recognised as the last viable breeding colony in Cyprus and much is being done to support it. The Cyprus Association for the Protection of Avifauna in conjunction with the Cyprus Forestry Department has established a project to try to ensure the continuing presence of Griffon Vultures in Cyprus. In the longer term, the Project also aims at re-introducing the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus and the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus that have not been seen in Cyprus for some years. This Project is being strongly supported by the Sovereign Base Areas Administration and British Forces Cyprus with the allocation of a site for a feeding station which has been constructed on the cliff top, and also assistance with local monitoring, first aid and financial contributions. 1998 saw an increase of 32% in the colony's population following the successful fledging of eight chicks. Sadly, one of the young birds did not survive to the end of the year. It was shot at close range by some mindless person with a shotgun. 1999 looks like being another good year with seven nests located by the end of February.

The Griffon Vultures can be seen, more or less, throughout the year. The remaining bird population varies according to the season. Among the 27 resident species so far identified are Scops Owl Otus scops cyprius, Sardinian Warbler Sylvia meloncephala, Chukar Alectoris chukar, Kingfisher Alcedo atthis and Cetti's Warbler Cettia cettia. More familiar species include Kestrels, Magpies, Sparrows and Finches.

Winter sees a considerable increase in the bird population at Tunnel Beach. No fewer than 22 additional species have been sighted during the cooler months including Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros, Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius and Finsch's Wheatear Oenanthe finschii. More common winter visitors are Lapwing, Robin, Song Thrush, Starling and those Blackcap which were fortunate enough not to be illegally trapped the previous year - see "Illegal Bird Trapping", Sanctuary no. 27.

 

                                                          Robin.

The hot summer months also see a number of visitors, 16 of which have been identified so far. They include Eleonora's Falcon Falco eleonorae, Red Rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica, Cretzchmar's Bunting Emberiza caesia and Hoopoe Upupa epops. More easily identified summer visitors include Turtle Doves, Spotted Flycatcher and Barn Swallow. Three species of Swift are also present in the summer - Alpine, Pallid and Common.

Being an island in the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus is an ideal staging post for the many bird species that migrate between Europe and Africa, Asia and the Middle East in the spring and autumn. Twenty autumn migrants have been recorded to date. These include Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax, Red Footed Falcon Falco vespertinus, European Roller Coracias garrulus, Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina and the more common Sand Martin, Whinchat and Whitethroat.

  
Little Egret

Not surprisingly, all the autumn migrants also appear in the list of 36 spring migrants so far identified. Notable additions to the spring list are Little Egrets Egretta garzetta, Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus, Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus and Ruppell's Warbler Sylvia ruppelli and, more common, Stone Curlew, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Flycatcher and Redstart.

Contributors to the ornithological section of the site dossier to the time of writing are Wing Commander Jerry Knights, SO1 J4 Log, Mervyn Wynne-Jones late SO1 Media Ops and Ken Stanway SO2 Support Budget all at HQ British Forces Cyprus - and the writer.

The substantial and varied bird population at Tunnel Beach is supported by a good supply of food - seeds, fruits, insects and, for the raptors, lots of small mammals and reptiles. The botany of the area is currently the concern of the writer who enjoys invaluable assistance from Mr George Hadjikyriacou of the Cypriot Forestry Department. Mr Hadjikyriacou is a botanist of some renown and, in an ongoing series of site visits, has helped to identify 184 plant species so far. All have been classified and recorded in the Site Dossier. This figure represents about 10% of the plant species to be found in the whole of Cyprus. By the time the study is complete, it is expected that this figure will increase to at least 25% which is about 500 species.

Many of the species are fairly typical of an East Mediterranean coastline. Among the trees there are Olive Olea europaea, Carob Ceratonia siliqua, Pistacia Pistacia terebinthus and Cypress Cupressus sempervirens. In the extensive dune system that runs along the back of the beach, there are also Palm Trees Phoenix dactylifera but these have almost certainly been introduced. Pine Pinus pinea and Juniper Juniperus phoenicea are also present. In small areas, two of the principal vegetation systems to be found in Cyprus – Maquis and Garigue (or Phrygana) – are still represented.

During the hot dry summer months when the temperature regularly exceeds 35°C, there is not a great deal of colour at Tunnel Beach. The first sign of change occurs in early September with the appearance of the Sea Squill Urginea maritima. This extraordinary plant thrusts upwards out of the parched ground to display its pale grey wand of flowers on its tall, leafless stem. Before long, morning dews start to form and rain, hopefully, follows to continue and accelerate the process of growth among the many other plant species present.

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