Developers snapping up ancient olive trees

OLD OLIVE trees are being snapped up by hotels and developers for huge sums of money for their aesthetic value.

According to the Forestry Department’s Takis Tsintides, “the older the tree, the more beautiful and valuable it becomes.”

According to local newspaper reports, some hotels and developers are paying more than a thousand pounds for olive trees over 100 years old in order to replant them on their grounds.

Forestry Department Direcotor Aristos Ioannou admitted that he has seen an increased demand, resulting in the Department keeping an eye on their numbers.

Green Party leader George Perdikis has expressed concern over their protection, but Ioannou says special permission is required from the Forestry Department before any tree can be uprooted, and even when approval is given, the transfer is handled by experts who do not damage the tree.

“Some olive trees can grow to over 1,000 years of age and here in Cyprus, they are considered natural monuments that are protected by law,” said Tsintides. “We have 100 trees over 500 years of age that are currently protected, with another 30 on the way. They are found all over the island on low ground.”

He did admit, however, that the Department was unable to police and enforce the law at all times.

“The trees seem to be very tolerant of being moved, unlike most other Cyprus trees, with development, road expansion and the abandonment of cultivation leading to a reduction in their numbers.”

Tsintides also spoke of a UNDP project in the Famagusta area, which has seen an olive tree sanctuary set up. “Figures show that over the last 30 years, 250,000 olive trees have been destroyed in the occupied areas,” he told us.

The luxury Anassa Hotel on the edge of the proposed Akamas nature reserve has brought in 15 old olive trees since 1998. “They are still producing olives and are well looked after,” a spokesman said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.