The forestry department called on the public to “honour” European parks day with “care and respect”.

European parks day is held every year on May 24, with the department saying the event “reminds the people of Europe of the importance of nature and the environment for their quality of life, health, and wellbeing”.

It added that the day is of “particular importance” for Cyprus, which, “despite its small size, has a rich natural wealth, with state forests, national forest parks, forest parks, and forested recreation areas, in the mountains as well as within urban centres”.

Those parks, it added, “upgrade the quality of life of both residents and visitors”.

“Cyprus has a well-organised network of parks which serve multiple purposes: they protect biodiversity, preserve cultural elements, support environmental education, and offer opportunities for recreation and relaxation,” it said.

It went on to stress the importance of urban parks in Cyprus’ largest towns and cities, saying they are “particularly important as places for walking, exercise, relaxation, and environmental awareness”.

Additionally, it said, forest parks in rural areas “belong to the core of the country’s natural wealth, constituting not only recreational destinations but also living laboratories of sustainability, ecology, and cultural heritage”.

It then pointed out that forests cover around 19 per cent of Cyprus’ total area, and said that as a department, it is undertaking actions “to protect against natural hazards such as fires”, as well as carrying out efforts to reforest the island, to enhance its biodiversity, to develop forest infrastructure, and to provide environmental education.

“In an era of accelerating climate change, the protection of forest ecosystems takes on a new, even more critical meaning. Forests function as natural carbon sinks, microclimate regulators, and barriers against erosion and flooding. Their loss would be tantamount to a reduction in our ability to respond to the challenges of the future,” it said.

On this matter, it said Cyprus is “already experiencing the effects of the climate crisis”, highlighting issues such as droughts, rising temperatures, and the associated increased risk of fires, and added that as such, the island “needs to invest even more in strengthening its natural wealth”.

As such, it called on the public to “honour” European parks day, “not only with visits to parks and to forests, but with conscious acts of daily care and respect”.

“Let us embrace the concept of sustainability not as a theoretical concept, but as a way of life. Let us become participants in a collective effort for a greener, more sustainable, more humane world.”