GREENING THE RED ZONE
CHAPTER 15. CYPRUS. GREENING THE DEAD ZONE. Dr. Anna Grichting
"At its maximum of defiance, the frontier doubles itself inevitably into two lines, each turned toward the
exterior, but which must also protect the interior against the threat not only of the other but also of this
intermediary interstitial region, the no-man's land, this geographical expression of misunderstanding, of
rift, at first a corridor of death, desolation, and barbed wire, but which can sometimes soften and become
the very image of the crossing of frontiers when that finally begins to occur." (Butor et al 1989).
Peace Building and Environmental Cooperation
Environmental threats, such as water scarcity and loss of biodiversity are often the cause of tension
between nations and the source of territorial disputes, but recent developments in research and policy are
beginning to view these problems as opportunities for cooperation and peace building. "Environmental
challenges ignore political boundaries, require a long-term perspective, encourage local and
nongovernmental participation, and extend community building beyond polarizing economic linkages."
(Carius et al. 2005). The unexpected natural developments that emerge in the confined areas of boundaries
and buffer zones has resulted in these liminal landscapes being recognized as unique reserves of
biodiversity, as backbones for sustainable development and as potential catalysts for peace. Environmental
planning, that unites the natural and social sciences, therefore has an important contribution to make to
peace-building, The aim, according to Saleem Ali, is "to explore ways in which resource scarcity and
environmental protection of resources can in fact be catalysts for resolving otherwise intractable disputes.
(Ali 2003). A shared vital resource can become the keystone for building bridges between parties who
would otherwise not sit at the same table (Halle et al. 2002). Conca and Dalbeko put forward the
environment as a unique way to transform conflict, and recognize that the potential for environmental
peacemaking exists in most regions. "Environmental cooperation can enhance trust, establish habits of
cooperation, forge cooperative trans-societal linkages, and create shared regional norms and identities".
(Conca & Dalbeko 2002). Civil society is an essential, yet underutilized component in environmental
peacemaking. If peace is to be achieved, it must be between governments as well as between societies and a
successful and sustainable peace strategy should therefore be achieved through both intergovernmental as
well as inter-societal pathways, "engaging a broad community of stakeholders by combining environment,
development and peace-related concerns". (Carius et al. 2005). Nevertheless, we must be aware of the
possible collision of the rights of local communities with the interests of nature preservation, and the risk of
the weakening of local resource claimants against the strengthening of state control over the resources.
(Peluso 2004). It is therefore essential to integrate the local communities and their livelihoods in peace
building projects that propose nature reserves or peace parks, in order to avoid the establishment of these
ecological landscapes leading to new conflicts over biodiversity protection, economic activities or user
rights.
Formal and Informal Strategies of Reconciliation
Considering the essential and underutilized role of civil society in the process of building peace and
fostering reconciliation, it is important to understand the role of formal (state) and informal (non-state)
actors. As long as the political or military status quo continues, non-state actors can act outside the
territories of politics, and in-between the formal structures of the state. In a recent meeting on the Korean
Demilitarized Zone, Samuel S. Kim suggested that "the challenge for the uncertain years ahead is to find
greater synergy among the many types of state and non-state actors in order to create a working peace
system" and this at the different scales - community, national and international. (Kim 2008). In the arena of
conflict studies and peace building, informal approaches are referred to as "soft politics" or as Track Two
or Multi-track diplomacy, and are defined as a holistic, transformative and systems-based approaches that
can promote structural changes.1 The informal collaborations of citizens' groups and NGOs working on the
environment can lay foundations for peace building strategies and confidence building measures - through
conducting collaborative scientific research, for example - that can pave the way for sustainable post1
Since 1992 the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) has initiated and facilitated conflict
transformation projects throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Using a systems-based
approach, IMTD facilitates dialogue between various groups to promote structural change enabling longterm, sustainable peace. By transforming conflict through a multi-track lens, IMTD’s activities address the
tangible and intangible conditions perpetuating a conflict, thus expanding the traditional framework of
peacemaking to include both official and unofficial spheres. http://imtd.org/cgi-bin/imtd.cgi
reunification planning. “Building on scientific data, conservation can transcend ethnic social and political
tensions" (Brklacich et al. 2003). In the pre-unification phase, local organisations working with
international NGOs can play a key role in initiating, developing and implementing projects, especially in
the field of ecology and nature preservation.
Green Lines and Unexpected Natures. The Boundary in Movement
Green lines conjure up different types of linear infrastructures that may have separative or connective
functions. In urban areas, a green line might describe a route or segment of a public transport network - in
general a light rail - that is coloured green on the systems map, or it could also refer to an urban growth
boundary or landscaped corridor that connects networks of green spaces. In areas of conflict, a Green Line
is used to designate a military dividing line or provisional demarcation line that separates the warring
territories. The first reference to a Green Line can be traced to a defence line of the German Army in Italy
during World War II, which ran along the summits of the Apennine Mountains. Several years later, in
1949, the armistice line between Israel and the Arab nations was designated as the Green Line, as was the
disputed border between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands, which open up into the
Arabian Sea. During the period of the civil war in Lebanon (1975-1990), Beirut was separated by a strip of
derelict land that formed between the front lines of Christian East and Moslem West, which became known
as the Green Line. The Cyprus Green Line designates a UN controlled Buffer Zone established between
two cease-fire lines in 1974, resulting from a military coup by the Greek Junta and a responding
intervention by the Turkish Army
While the military origins of the designation Green Line remain vague, the Israeli and Cypriot Green Lines
have been attributed to the green pencil markings drafted on a map, while Beirut's Green Line is said to be
the result of the spontaneous vegetation that developed during the years of the conflict between the militias’
front lines.2 In contemporary questions of landscape, dynamic or unexpected natures have become
2
In the case of Cyprus, the Green Line was drawn by a British Army General on the map of Nicosia in
1963, after a bout of communal strife, to divide the city into Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot areas. In
increasingly recognized for their ecological value and contribution to the preservation of biodiversity.
Gilles Clement, a French horticultural engineer and landscape architect, describes marginal sites abandoned
to nature as Third Landscapes, as prime areas for accumulating biodiversity (Clement 2004). These
“undecided pieces of the Global garden”, the neglected areas where biodiversity thrives, can be considered
as the earth’s genetic reservoir. Clement has developed a landscaping strategy - the Garden in Movement which accommodates and orchestrates these spontaneous natures, extracting or enhancing certain species to
create an evolving landscape, shaped by the historical, cultural and ecological conditions surrounding the
site. It is precisely this wild growth within the boundary that is of interest to us, the resilient Nature that
softens the thick frontier, which can engender the crossing of the frontier, the Boundary in Movement that
can become a catalyst to deconstruct the mental and physical walls that entrench the communities on both
sides.
“There seems to be something particularly powerful, if not shocking, about a certain kind of urban nature,
namely the kind of nature that takes over when an urban building or plot has been abandoned. Perhaps
(…) it has something to do with the palpable power of nature to invade and even destroy man-made
structures, splitting concrete and rapidly colonizing into seemingly inhospitable horizontal and vertical
habitats." (Jorgensen 2004).
Cyprus. The Dead Zone
The Green Line of Cyprus is commonly called the Buffer Zone, Dead Zone, no-man’s land, or Attila Line.
When it was first established, it was referred to as the “Mason-Dixon Line,” a term originating in 18th
century America, which has become a common metaphor to describe a separation, usually directional
Israel, it corresponds to the cease-fire line drawn in green on the maps of the Armistice Agreements of
1948.
(north -south or east-west?).3 The United Nations Buffer Zone (UNBZ), as it is officially referred to, varies
in width from 3.5 meters in the historic center of Nicosia, to 5 kilometers in the area surrounding the former
airport, one of its widest sections. It delineates a border between a De Jure Republic of Cyprus, (which still
defines the whole island as its territory) and the De Facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is
recognized internationally only by Turkey. The Green Line divides the capital city of Nicosia into the two
half cities - Lefkosa in the north (the Turkish city) and Lefkosia in the south (the Greek City). Since April
2004, and the South’s entry into the European Union, this boundary also defines the new limits of the EU,
which today ends in the historic center of the walled city of Nicosia.
With its irregular form, the Green Line cuts through the historic walls of Nicosia, disrupting the perfect
geometry and image of unity created by the perfect circle of the Venetian fortifications, meandering along
what was formerly the bed of the Pedios River, and later became the main commercial axis of the city.
Cutting across the island from the east to the west coasts, the Buffer Zone links a unique succession of
landscapes and constitutes a cross-section of the different landscapes and ecologies of the island. From the
deltas and sandy beaches of the east coast (Famagusta-Varosha), it connects with the rocky shores of the
West coast (Kokkina enclave), passing through wetlands, fertile plains and hills, and abandoned copper
mines, and follows the crests of mountain tops. It is traversed by many rivers that flow from the Troodos
Mountains into the plains, and connects with a patchwork of national forests and future Natura 2000 sites.
The Dead Zone is riddled with landmines and other pollution and holds deep in its soil the traumatic
memories of the identified victims and the unidentified missing persons, encapsulating almost 50 years of
communal strife. On a more positive note, this liminal landscape has been extracted from rampant
developments and intensive agricultural exploitation, allowing it to become a reserve of Nature, similar to
the Demilitarized Zone in Korea which has been described by scientists and nature lovers as a Garden of
Eden or Ready-Made Paradise Park. This four kilometer wide corridor that divides the Korean peninsula
3
The original Mason-Dixon Line was surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon from 1763 to 1767
and defined the Pennsylvania/Maryland border (which runs east-west) and that part of the
Maryland/Delaware border that runs approximately north-south. Additional meanings have subsequently
been given to the term “Mason-Dixon Line,” such as the border between the free states and the slave states
in the first half of the 18th century, or the border between the Union states and the Confederate states
during the American Civil War.
has become a lush landscape hosting a rich collection of endangered species of flora and fauna. Likewise,
the Iron Curtain was a dehumanized strip of land, covered by sand and weed killer; it was only after the fall
of the Wall that the process of recolonization by nature began. The recognition of the death strip as a
potential life line or ecological corridor running through Europe prompted environmental organizations and
NGOs to initiate a project to conserve the Iron Curtain as a Green Belt running from the North to the South
of Europe.
In Cyprus, a polarised political and physical landscape continues to divide the Greek and Turkish
communities. The de-facto "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" is not recognised by the international
community except Turkey, and continues to suffer from an economic and political embargo, despite efforts
by the European Union to dis-enclave the Turkish Cypriots in anticipation of a solution to the Cyprus
problem. Since 2003, movement between the two communities has been permitted through five
checkpoints along the Green Line. The opening of the boundary, accompanied by continued efforts by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Action for Cooperation and Trust (ACT - EU) and the
United Nations (UNFICYP) as well as several NGOs in Cyprus, has encouraged and facilitated
environmental cooperation and peace building initiatives on both sides, regardless of the political stalemate
that followed the public refusal (in 2004) of the UN Annan Plan for a settlement of the Cyprus Problem.
From Military Fault Line to Ecological Seam
Future projects for the Green Line should build on, and preserve, the positive developments within this
enclaved territory, such as the proliferation of unexpected natures and the preservation of endangered
species, as well as seeking to remediate the negative effects of the conflict (landmines) and the
peripherisation of the zone, (which has resulted in illegal dumping, economic shrinkage and general
infrastructural and architectural decay). Envisioning the Green Line as a catalyst for reconciliation
articulated around environmental preservation and sustainable planning is posited as an alternative to the
fractured landscapes and ruptured communities of Cyprus, one that could help in shifting the focus from
polarised territorial claims to the potentially unifying aims of protecting the environment, and building a
socially, economically and ecologically sustainable future. This vision for the Green Line should be
translated into a set of policies and planning instruments and should serve to communicate to the Cypriot
populations that, in the face of increasing environmental threats and diminishing resources, increased
collaboration and planning between both communities, as well as with regional and global actors and
organisations, is necessary.
“It may simply have been my own mistaken faith in the religion of architecture, but I felt that there were
issues that could be discussed outside the territory of politics. No matter the ultimate disposition of
sovereignty, it seemed to me that questions of ecology, preservation, neighbourhood development, open
space, and so on would need many of the same answers." (Sorkin 2002)
Our aim is to harness the ongoing environmental initiatives that address biodiversity, resource scarcity and
pollution in order to lay the foundations for a sustainable spatial plan for the future development of the
Green Line and to contribute to building a peaceful future between the two communities. This vision builds
on existing projects of environmental cooperation between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and
was presented to various stakeholders in Cyprus in July 2006, initially entitled - "The Green Line of
Cyprus: Human Development and Reconciliation through Environmental Cooperation" (Grichting 2006).
The stakeholders included the international organizations that manage or operate within the Buffer Zone
(UNFICYP, UNDP, ACT), environmental and peace building NGO's on both sides of the Green Line, the
Council for Reconstruction & Settlement under the Ministry of the Interior (Republic of Cyprus) and
members of Academic Institutions. The project was well received, albeit with some reservations as to the
feasibility of its implementation, especially with regard to the questions of land rights and land ownership,
which remain major obstacles to a future resolution of the Cyprus issue.
Many NGOs and associations are building bridges across the Green Line. These include cultural
organizations, such as the Bi-communal Choir and the recently formed Bi-communal Jazz Band; NGOs
centered on questions of the environment - water, biodiversity, renewable energies including the BiCommunal Cyprus Organic Advisory Group, Birdlife Cyprus, Friends of Nature, Wind Association; as well
as NGOs working on social issues of missing persons and historical dialogue. This web of cooperative
actions and initiatives is an important foundation for the Vision Plan, which seeks to reclaim a biologically
and culturally diverse Cyprus, using the Green Line as a backbone to implement these projects. The overall
vision for the project is the overlaying of multiple landscapes of the Green Line.
Landscapes of the Green Line
A Landscape of Biodiversity.
Following the presentation of the Green Line project, a survey conducted by UNFICYP under the UN
Special Representative to? Michael Moller questioned the Cypriot communities abouttheir awareness of
the Buffer Zone being a an environmental preserve in which rare animal and plant species were flourishing.
Another outcome of the stakeholder conference? was the first scientific attempt to assess the flora and
fauna of the Buffer Zone undertaken by a team of 14 scientists from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. This study unearthed the existence
of rare, endemic and vulnerable flora and fauna species and confirmed the hypothesis put forward by the
author that the Buffer Zone was a possible and potential haven of biodiversity, also providing valuable
information concerning locations of wildlife corridors that can assist in prioritizing conservation planning
for target species and habitats.
Eight study sites were selected across the width of the buffer zone, covering different habitat types,
including river, coastal, farmland, wetland, and forest. The findings include rare plants, hedgehogs, hares,
foxes, an endemic mouse – Mus cypriaca, vulnerable bird species, and reptiles and amphibians such as the
Mediterranean chameleon, the blunt nose viper, the spoin lizard, and the green frog. Around 200-300
Cyprus mouflon were observed around the abandoned hillside village of Varishia. The moufflon is a wild
sheep and a national symbol, which has been on the island for several thousand years. It was on the verge
of extinction a decade ago and it is now believed that there are around 3,000 moufflons in the Buffer Zone
(Gucel et al. 2007). More recently, the Mediterranean monk seal has been spotted off Kokkina by the
Turkish soldiers, in an enclave of the Buffer Zone on the West Coast. As the Buffer Zone extends into the
sea, this extremely shy mammal has taken refuge in the undisturbed seascapes.
A Landscape of Memory and Forgiving
"Our common pain is our common future".
There are many sites of memory along the Green Line, many of them painful memories of the ethnic
clashes of the 1960s and 1970s. Abandoned cemeteries, ruined churches, centennial olive trees, individual
memorials, collective monuments, traces and relics, all articulate landscapes and sites of remembrance. Yet
there are still people grieving on both sides for the thousands of men, women and children who disappeared
without a trace during the height of the conflict. According to UN data, more than 1,400 Greek Cypriots
and 500 Turkish Cypriots are listed as missing and some 270 remains have been unearthed on both sides of
the cease-fire line. While it may not be possible to locate the missing persons and their graves, it is
important that they be honored and remembered; this remembrance and grieving will help to heal the
wounds between the two communities.
“The families of the Missing on both sides are the walking wounded whose aching hearts and souls need to
be comforted. This can only happen when we realize that there is still even more to lose by not embracing
each other’s needs now, by not trying to forgive even if there are things that are so hard to forgive.”
(Uludag 2007)
A Social and Cultural Landscape
A number of obsolete copper mines are located on either side of the Green Line near the West coast of the
island – the Greek mines of Skouriotissa and the American owned Cyprus Mining Company in the LefkaMavrovouni-Xeros area. These copper mines belong to the cultural history of Cyprus, and it is said that the
very name of the island derives from the Latin name of copper, Curium. The Skiouritissa Mine produced
copper ore for more than 4,000 years and in Roman times, the mines were leased to King Herod. These
mines also served as sites for acts of solidarity between Turkish and Greek Cypriot miners, who joined
forces in their struggle for better wages and working conditions. A four-month long strike in 1948, in which
the “unity, heroism, discipline and self-sacrifice of the miners (Greeks and Turks alike) and their families,
wrote one of the greatest chapters in the history of the labor movement.” 4 Today, the proposed remediation
of these mines is a bi-communal project that will unite Turkish and Greek experts in a newly established
“think-tank,” an initiative of the Laona Foundation for the Conservation and Regeneration of the Cypriot
countryside.5 The objective is to elaborate measures for sustainable site rehabilitation, as it affects past and
future licensees of mines and quarries, as well as the legal/policy framework. (Cilliers 2008).
A Landscape of Cooperation
The Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) is recognized as an exemplar of how
productive cooperation, creative ideas and respect can participate in overcoming the divide. Since its
foundation, the association has enlisted members from various ethnic, linguistic and professional
backgrounds working at the different education levels in Cyprus, and has engaged whom? in a productive
dialogue on the pedagogies, uses and abuses of history in relation to the conflict. 6 The Association has not
only created a network across the divide to transform the polarized histories and divided narratives of the
conflict, but has also initiated a project to create a physical space – “A Home for Cooperation” – to
facilitate peace-building projects by civil society. The project is based on the conviction that the major
obstacles faced by civil society in Cyprus are the limited infrastructure for multi-communal activities and
the lack of skills in identifying and securing institutional support, and it is supported by a number of
international donors.
The building, constructed in the 1940's, will be renovated to host exhibitions, archives, research, training,
and public events - and will provide a unique example of successful cooperation, as well as of reactivating
an abandoned area of Nicosia's Dead Zone. It is located in a symbolic space in the Dead Zone of Nicosia,
close to the Venetian Walls and opposite Ledra Palace, a former hotel build during colonial times, and now
4
Varnava, Pantelis. The Common Labour Struggles of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. http://www.peacecyprus.org/Memories/Labor/
5
http://www.conservation.org.cy/laona/laona.htm
6
http://www.cyprus-tube.com/historical-dialogue/
the headquarters of the UN. Before the opening of checkpoints in 2003, and of Ledra Street in the heart of
Nicosia in 2008, it was the only crossing point in Nicosia, reserved for pedestrians, UN personnel, and
diplomats. Over the years, it became a space for many of the bi-communal meetings, including the
numerous international talks aimed at finding a solution to the political situation.
Friends of Nature Cyprus, a bi-communal NGO working on the environment will be one of the tenants of
the Home for Cooperation. They are also the main partners of the Green Line Vision Plan being developed
by the author. Within the general concept to transform the Buffer Zone into a backbone for ecological
planning in Cyprus - which includes preserving biodiversity, developing ecotourism and organic farming,
addressing water issues and storm water management, and creating landscapes of memory for the victims
and missing persons - it is also envisaged to create a Green Building Code for landscape and urban
planning, new construction, and building rehabilitation within the Buffer Zone. By applying these codes,
the project for the rehabilitation of the building for the Home for Cooperation can become a catalyst for the
implementation of the Green Line project. One example of this Green Line Building Code could be the
design of a "green roof" that combines water-collecting devices with appropriate plants and trees that are
adapted to the arid climate of Cyprus. Additionally, the building should be conceived to be energy efficient
and adapted with water saving and energy saving devices and should also showcase recycling in its diverse
aspects. The surrounding landscape will be designed with plantings that become part of a healthy
bioclimatic environment, requiring little water, fostering biodiversity, as well as providing shading for the
public spaces. In this way, the area surrounding Ledra Palace could remain area site of unique historical
importance for peace building activities in the future, as well as becoming an incubator for the Green Line
Vision project.
The Nicosia Master Plan. A precedent for collaboration across the Green Line.
“We are not going to solve the Cyprus problem, but we are building bridges. They are always useful. I wish
more were being built by others.”
Lellos Demetriades, representative of the Greek Cypriot Community of Nicosia and former Mayor of South
Nicosia. (UNHCR 1996).
“We know certain parts of the Master Plan can only be realized when an overall solution to the Cyprus
problem is achieved. But for a realistic, viable and lasting solution, it is necessary to establish areas of cooperation between the two sides. The Nicosia Master Plan is one of the very rare instances of such cooperation.”
Mustafa Akinci, representative of the Turkish Cypriot Community of Nicosia and former Mayor of North
Nicosia. (UNHCR 1996).
Rampant nature and endangered species offer one form of resilience to the negative effects of the division.
Another form of resistance is provoked by the topography, the natural inclination of the terrain, and the
resulting flow of water both over and underground. The Bi-Communal Nicosia Master Plan is a unique
example of collaborative urban planning in a divided city, that originated from a problem of sewerage and
which evolved into a plan for rehabilitation of the walled city. The plan was initiated in 1979 by the two
mayors of North and South Nicosia, Lellos Demetriades and Mustafa Akinci, respectively, and facilitated
by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program). It was born from an ambition to overcome the
politics of division and was developed despite the continuing difficulty of establishing formal relations
between the administrations of both communities. The plan emerged from an urgent necessity to resolve
problems of sanitation caused by the aging sewage system in the walled city and beyond, and from the
realization that it was impossible to plan and intervene on the sewage network of the entire city without the
technical cooperation of both sides.
The plan was visionary in its elaboration of two scenarios: one for the divided city (or the two half-double
cities), another that envisioned a unified city. With funding from UNOPS and the European Union, the plan
evolved to include the renovation of public and religious buildings (mosques, churches, markets,
caravanserais), the rehabilitation of two neighborhoods situated along the Green Line – Arab Ahmet, an
Ottoman neighborhood in the Turkish sector; and Chrystalliniotissa, a traditional Christian???
neighborhood in the Greek sector of the city - as well as the complete restoration of the Venetian Walls
surrounding the city. A New Vision Plan developed by the Municipalities on either side was published in
2005, which began to document and analyze the instruments and regulations of urban planning in both
cities in view of harmonizing the tools of planning.
Peter Hocknell, in his analysis of the Nicosia Master Plan, relates this planning process to a school of
thought that he names “a functionalist approach to international cooperation,” which is posited as an
alternative to the state-centric “high-politics” of national and military security that are more often than not
to the detriment of other “low politics,” such as issues of welfare, the environment, or even the economy.
(Hocknell et al. 1991). In order to move forward with cooperative projects, it is important that they can be
elaborated in spaces that are extracted from the dominant ideologies and dogmas of either side, in areas of
common issues.
Hocknell posits the concept of superordinate goals (put forward by Mazerfer Sherif in 1958) that are
compelling and highly appealing to members of two or more groups in conflict, but cannot be attained by
the resources and energies of the groups separately. Superordinate goals differ from common goals, in that
common goals can be achieved unilaterally. Hocknell articulates the possibility that technical,
environmental, or economic cooperation may further develop in Nicosia and the potential for this
cooperation to “spillover” into political peace. There is also the danger that the spillover can result in
conflict. Hocknell refers to the importance of geographical scale in establishing transboundary relations and
argues that examining the issues from the regional/local level introduces a ‘bottom-up’ perspective that
takes into account how borderland inhabitants - along with state, international, and supranational agents
most traditionally associated with international cooperation - are affected by the border and are involved in
the changes taking place. For example, in Cyprus, before the establishment of the Environmental
Stakeholders Platform that brings together environmental organizations from both sides, a number of
associations were already collaborating across the Green Line. While it has been formalized by the UNDP,
it is built on a web of existing transboundary relations. The role of a third party - in this case the UNDP,
UNCHS, UNHCR - has been essential in the development of transboundary cooperation, providing a
neutral space, the buffer zone, for meetings between both parties.
Greening the Dead Zone. A Pathway to Reconciliation
This project for the Green Line addresses the current environmental challenges that face the island of
Cyprus, which include water pollution, water scarcity, coastal degradation, and loss of wildlife habitats,
amongst other. It engages multiple stakeholders and civil society, harnessing existing environmental and
cultural initiatives that are emerging from the ground up, that is, from the natural resilience of the landscape
as well as from a bottom's-up collaborative process involving the communities on both sides. The plan will
also seek to remediate the negative developments in the boundary zone, which include landmines,
abandoned structures and copper mines, and aspires to preserve the positive in the Buffer Zone, in
particular in the preservation of endangered species. In doing so, it seeks to provoke a shift from the
narratives of disputed land rights to common issues of preserving the environment, thereby acting as a
catalyst for the reintegration of the divided communities. As a backbone for the reconstruction and
reconciliation process, it could become an opportunity for innovative environmental landscape and urban
design and offer sites for the establishment of new organizations and institutions that will participate in
overcoming the psychological rift. Building on environmental regulations that are being enforced by the
European Union, it could benefit from international funding aimed at encouraging sustainable practices and
policies.
We suggest a number of measures to translate this new vision of the dividing line into an instrument of
planning and reconciliation:
-
Identify and highlight the major environmental challenges facing Cyprus. Identify and document
the environmental initiatives that are currently being developed across the border.
-
Document and map the biotopes of the Buffer Zone in relation to the surrounding landscapes and
ecosystems, identifying the core areas, corridors and buffer zones, as well as highlighting the
endangered and flagship species.
-
Develop scenarios for the Green Line as a laboratory for sustainable planning and as a backbone
for environmental cooperation at the local and international scale.
The Vision Plan for the Green Line will include the following components:

Preservation and Biodiversity: Map the ecosystems, habitats, and key areas of biodiversity within
the Buffer Zone, and examine how these connect to existing ecosystems, nature reserves, cultural
landscapes, and urban or national parks. Identify key areas of preservation and possible habitat
reserves within the Green Line.

Landscape remediation: Identify major areas of environmental pollution that necessitate
remediation, for example, abandoned copper mines, , polluted rivers, and landmines left over from
the conflict.

Water Management: Evaluate and document the water network as well as the underground
geology in order to improve the replenishment of the aquifers. Implement storm water
management, restore wetlands and riverbeds. Explore the possibilities for and the feasibility of
desalination associated with solar energy.

Sustainable Energy: Research renewable forms of energy - for example wind power and solar
energy - and evaluate zones within the Green Line in which these can be implemented.

Organic Farming: Identify landscapes within the Buffer Zone that could accommodate organic
farming, which could become prototypes for developing organic farming in Cyprus.

Green Line Eco-Tourism: Restore ruined villages and enclaved towns as areas of ecotourism and
link them to the organic farms.

Green Line Marine Peace Parks: Research and evaluate the maritime area of the Buffer Zone on
the east and west coasts of the island. Develop a project for a Marine Peace Park in the Kokkina
enclave to preserve the Mediterranean monk seal.

Green Line Public Transport: Develop plans for public transport and investigate the possibility of
reactivating the Famagusta-Nicosia-Lefke Railroad that was dismantled in 1951, which runs
almost parallel to the Green Line across the plains. Preserve the Green Line patrol path as a
pedestrian and bike trail.

Settlements: Identify and map the urban settlements, villages, and enclaves along and within the
Buffer Zone, including ruins and abandoned settlements and develop specific sectorial Master
Plans for the Green Line in these areas.

Green Line Buildings Code: In areas that are to be constructed within the Green Line, the Master
Plan will indicate Green Codes of building, so that the areas will be developed according to
sustainable urban, landscape, and architectural guidelines that are adapted to the climate and
produce a minimum ecological footprint.

Symbolic Buildings: Certain areas within the Buffer Zone should be reserved for institutions and
infrastructure that will benefit both communities and that can become key symbols and catalysts
for a future reconciliation of Cyprus. These may include bi-communal schools and universities,
environmental education centres, peacekeeping institutions, and cultural institutions. For example,
with the support of individuals, embassies, and the UNFICYP, the Association for Historical
Dialogue has successfully raised the funds for the purchase and renovation of an Educational
Centre in the buffer zone.

Cultural Landscapes: The Green Line can be viewed as a link between existing cultural and
historical sites and future cultural institutions, and can take the form of a historical trail that
showcases the historiographies of Cyprus and the mosaics of cultures as an alternative to the
polarized cultural landscape of the divided communities.

Green Line Memorial Trail: The existing “landscapes of memory” along the Green Line should be
documented, including cemeteries, sites of traumatic or violent confrontations and ruined villages,
and could be linked along the Green Line in a memorial trail along the former patrol path.
Conclusion
In view of the many competing and diverging territorial claims that continue to divide the Cypriot
populations, the feasibility of a proposal for a Green Belt and Landscape of Memory along the Green Line
may be questioned and it is necessary to develop policies and instruments to implement the Master Plan.
The question of land ownership will be amongst the major obstacles and it is precisely this fact that
requires anticipatory planning. Amongst the tools of urban and environmental planning, Eminent Domain is
an instrument of expropriation that can be applied to acquire land for public works and this would require
that the environmental qualities and potential of the Green Line be valued as a public good. Friends of the
Earth Germany (BUND) have recognised that land purchase is the only way to protect habitats from
destruction in the long run and they have started to buy unique habitats from private owners in six areas
along the Green Belt. To this day, around 280 hectares of the German Green Belt have been purchased
through Green Share Certificates by more than 10.000 people, who have become symbolic shareholders of
the German Green Belt. (IUCN). One of the strategies put forward for the Korean Demilitarized Zone is to
freeze development over a period of time in order to conduct the necessary research and develop an
appropriate plan.
Today, the Green Line exists as a line of division and trauma and as potential corridor of biodiversity and
landscape of reconciliation. It is a contemporary space of project and a terrain of speculation. In the event
of a future reunification or solution, the forces of real estate will rapidly engulf the parcels of the Green
Line. Therefore, it is necessary to plan and communicate this vision now, and also to consider the process
of planning as a contribution to the building of capacity, trust and forgiveness.
REFERENCES
Ali, Saleem, Environmental Planning and Cooperative Behavior. Catalyzing Sustainable Consensus.
Journal of Planning Education and Research, No. 23, 2003.
Brklacich, Michael; Matthew, Richard A. & McDonald, Bryan. Global Environmental Change and
Human Security: Gaps in Research on Social Vulnerability and Conflict, UNEP, Woodrow Wilson
Center 2003, p.6
Broome, Benjamin, J. Participatory Planning and Design in a Protracted Conflict Situation: Applications
with Citizen Peace-Building Groups in Cyprus, in Systems Research and Behavioral Science, No. 19, P.
313-321. 2002.
Butor, Michel; Jacomino, Christian & Miller, Elinor S.. Frontiers. Birmingham, Ala.: Summa
Publications, 1989.
Cilliers, Jaco. “Rehabilitation of Abandoned Mines and Quarries.” ACTION. Issue No. 8 / Winter-Spring
2008. UNDP Action for Cooperation & Trust
Clement, Gilles. Le Jardin En Mouvement. Pandora. 1990.
Clement, Gilles. Manifeste pour le Tiers-paysage, éd. Sujet Objet, mai 2004
Conca, Ken and Dabelko, Geoffrey D. (Eds.), Environmental peacemaking, Washington, DC, 2002.
Conca, Ken; Carius, Alexander & Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Building Peace Through Environmental
Cooperation, 2005, p.10.
Jorgensen, Anna. “The Social and Cultural Context of Ecological Plantings.” In The Dynamic Landscape,
edited by Nigel Dunnet and James Hitchmough. Spoon Press, 2004.
The DMZ Forum for Peace and Nature Conservation. http://www.dmzforum.org/
Grichting Anna, The Green Line of Cyprus: Human Development and Reconciliation through
Environmental Cooperation. HPCR (Harvard Program for Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research),
June 2006.
Gucel, Salih, Charalambidou, Iris; Gocmen Bayram; Karatas, Ahmet; Ozden, Ozge’ Soyumert, Anif;
Fuller, Wayne. Monitoring Biodiversity of the Buffer Zone in Cyprus. Near East University, 2007.
Halle, Mark; Matthew, Richard A. & Switzer, Jason (eds.), Conserving the Peace: Resources,
Livelihoods and Security, Geneva 2002, p.400.
Hocknell, Peter; Calotychos, Vangelis & Papadakis, Yiannis. «Introduction. Divisive Cities, Divided
Cities: Nicosia.» Journal of Mediterranean Studies. History, Culture, Society in the Mediterranean
World. 8, no. 2 (1991): 147-168.
IUCN. Land purchase in the European Green Belt» The European Green Belt. IUCN.
http://www.europeangreenbelt.org
IUCN. Ecological Networks Database Central and Eastern Europe.
http://www.iucn-ce.org/econets/database/?id=21
Kim, Samuel, S. "Peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the Role of the DMZ". Cited by Michel Ha in.
"DMZ Forum Examines Road Ahead for Two Koreas". The Korea Times, 20th August 2008.
Peluso, Nancy Lee. "Coercing Conservation", in: Ken Conca & Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Green Planet
Blues, Boulder, CO 2004, p.355f.
Raustiala, Kal; Skolnikoff, Victor B, & David G, Eugene. (Eds.), The Implementation and Effectiveness
of International Environmental Commitments: Theory and Practice. Laxenburg and Cambridge 1998,
p.12.
Schlumprecht, Helmut. Habitat inventory of the German Green Belt.
http://www.europeangreenbelt.org/download/projects/habitat-type-inventory-GBGermany_method.pdf,
2001.
Sorkin, Michael. The Next Jerusalem : Sharing the Divided City. New York: Monacelli Press, 2002.
Terry A., Ullrich K. and Riecken U. The Green Belt of Europe: From
Vision to Reality. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, 2006.
Uludağ, Sevgül. Oysters with the Missing Pearls, İkme Bilban publishing house, Cyprus, 2007.
UNFICYP. The UN in Cyprus . An Inter-communal Survey of Public Opinion by UNFICYP, United
Nations Publications. 2007.
UNHCR. The Nicosia Sewerage Project: A plan for Nicosia. A Strategy for the World. 1996