carmen panzano

On the island Cyprus, positioned on the eastern end of the Mediterranean, 3% of the land acts as a U.N. buffer zone after the ethnic war between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in 1974. The abandoned land divides the island in two. The Greeks dominate the south and the Turkish dominate the north. After decades of abandonment this area became an unofficial wildlife reserve. Rare and endangered species flourish in the area. Some of the species include Egyptian fruit bat, the bee orchid and the Eurasian Thick-knee. Despite the ethnic divide that cause the land to be abandoned, two environmental scientists on either side of the land, one Greek and one Turkish, have joined together to study, protect and advocate for the wildlife area since 2007.