Forests

Cyprus is far greener than its reputation suggests. Forest and other wooded land cover roughly 42% of the island, split between high forest and lighter wooded country, and the island maintains 10 national forest parks. They matter economically as well as scenically: they hold the water in the hills, they support the mountain village economies, and they are where most Cypriots go when the coast gets too hot. This site documents 14 forests and forest parks, listed by district further down the page.

The Troodos forests

The Troodos National Forest Park is the big one, covering the high centre of the island where the black pine and cedar grow and where nearly every nature trail on this site begins. Troodos Forest covers the wider range, the geological backbone of Cyprus, and holds plant and animal communities found nowhere else.

On the northern flank, Kakopetria Forest runs right up to the edge of the village of the same name, and Machairas Forest extends over some 6,057 hectares — about 60.6 square kilometres — in two blocks on the eastern side of the range.

The parks near the cities

Three of the national forest parks exist mainly so that people can reach a wood without driving into the mountains. Athalassa sits on the edge of Nicosia and is the capital’s green lung, with a lake in the middle of it. Polemidia is 6 kilometres north of the centre of Limassol, and Rizoelia lies 3 kilometres east of Aradippou, close to Larnaca.

The coastal parks

Cape Greco National Forest Park covers about 385 hectares of headland near Protaras and is unlike the others entirely — low scrub, sea caves and cliff paths rather than pine. Agios Nikandros near Ayia Napa and Liopetri are both coastal parks in the Famagusta district still being developed.

Using them

Access is free and most forests have a picnic site with tables, water and parking. The serious constraint is fire: the island is tinder-dry from roughly May to October, open fires are prohibited outside built barbecue points, and access to some forest areas is restricted in the highest-risk periods. Spring and autumn are the best walking seasons; the higher Troodos forest can be under snow in winter.