Former agriculture minister Petros Xenophontos on Wednesday hailed the reopening of Cyprus’ forestry college, with the college now accepting applications for students wishing to study there from the next academic year.

“The suspension of the forestry college’s operations in 2015 created a serious gap in the training of new foresters and by extension deregulated the staffing process of the forestry department,” he began.

He added that when he became agriculture minister in 2023, he submitted a proposal to cabinet for the college to reopen, “having observed the gradual understaffing and the very serious consequences for the exercise of proper, effective, and sustainable management of Cyprus’ forests”.

His successor Maria Panayiotou has also been keen to highlight the issues caused by the forestry college’s initial closure, saying it was “one of the reasons which contributed to the forestry department’s understaffing”.

With this in mind, she said the college was being reopened as the government “has as our priority the protection and preservation of the forests and the strengthening of the forestry department’s operational readiness”.

Forestry college students will upon graduation obtain a “higher diploma in forestry”. The diploma programme lasts three years and has been accredited by the Cyprus Agency for Quality Assurance and Certification of Higher Education (Dipae).

It is expected that the college will take on between 10 and 15 students per year for its higher diploma programme. Applicants will sit entrance exams, and once accepted onto the programme, they will be taught a range of different skills related to forestry.

These skills include dealing with forest fires, forest administration, road construction, forest epidemiology and virology, botany, and various other issues related to forestry and forest management.

The forestry college building is located in the village of Prodromos, in the Troodos mountain range.