Germasogeia Dam Clean-Up – 21/01/2018
The Germasogeia Dam Clean-Up organized by the Association on January 21st turned out to be a huge success. More than 100 volunteers of various ages helped to collect unbelievable amounts of garbage, making most of the dam shoreline clean again.
All the participants were literally shocked by the amount of rubbish, which included items detrimental both to the environment but also to the health of animals and people. Several truckloads of garbage were removed from a site that should have been a nature playground. Unfortunately, the situation at Germasogeia is far from unique; the same is true practically at all Cyprus’ reservoirs. This fact is well known by our Association as we organize major clean-ups every year since the Association’s beginning in 2005.
The Cyprus Freshwater Angling Association would like to express special gratitude to the Commisioner for the Environment, Mrs Ioanna Panayiotou A, who placed the Clean-Up event under her auspices, and who actively helped with the clean-up. The Association would also like to thank all the various parties that helped: Akrounda Youth Center, Cyprus Canoe-Kayak Federation, Cyprus Dragon Boat Federation, Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, Environmentalist Party, Community of Akrounda, Community of Foinikaria, t Municipality of Germasogeia, 81 Polemidia Scout System, Cyprus Tourist Organization, and Development Agency of Lemesos.
The Association would also like to thank all the individuals who helped with the success of the event. It was with great joy that we observed persons of a very young age helping adults in this endeavor. We sincerely hope that after this event and the associated publicity given to the dam littering issue, more people and groups will be activated to help avoid such a situation again, either at Germasogeia or other reservoirs. We would also like to express our gratitude to our sponsors for their precious support.
Finally, we, the Cyprus Freshwater Angling Association, would like to reassure that we would continue our effort so that the reservoirs of our island become again attractive areas for recreation and nature activities, as it happens in other countries. We should though note that we expect that the various authorities assume their responsibilities in this matter.
