Akamas

[1] Ptolemy described it as a thickly wooded headland, divided into two by summits [a mountain range] rising towards the north.

[2] The peninsula is named after Akamas, a son of Theseus, hero of the Trojan War and founder of the city-kingdom of Soli.

The area is threatened by tourist development and the planned A7 motorway between Polis and Paphos, and the government is under pressure to enhance the peninsula's protection.

[4] Organisations such as the Green Party of Cyprus, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are taking action to protect the area.

The following 39 of the 128 endemic plant species of Cyprus are found in the Akamas peninsula: Alyssum akamasicum, Anthemis tricolor, Arenaria rhodia ssp.

On the south westerly side the Avakas Gorge has high sheer cliffs which come closer together until they meet, leaving a tunnel formation through which a stream runs.

Akamas has branded itself as an exclusive destination and tourists who come tend to be seeking more than "sun, sea and sand", being more interested in culture, biodiversity and specialist sports such as golf or hiking.

The head of the forestry department Charalambos Alexandrou called the arsonists ‘senseless’ as they were calculating the scale of the damage.

“The state is at best tolerating and at worst encouraging such criminal behaviour.”[7] Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said that economic interests are behind fires that were deliberately set in a bid to sabotage plans to declare the area as a National Forest by 2022.