A long and serious drought is causing major damage to the forests in Cyprus. Experts say the country's ancient woodlands could be changed forever. The island is facing its worst water shortage in more than 15 years. This has led to the death of many trees on a scale that has never been seen before.
Savvas Ezekiel, the head of the Cyprus forestry department, recently gave a strong warning on the radio. He said that several dry years in a row have badly hurt the health of the forests. Even the strongest trees are now struggling.
The problem comes from many years of very low rainfall. This has left the soil extremely dry. Large areas of forest can no longer get enough water to survive. Some places, like the Troodos mountains, are doing a bit better. But other famous areas are getting worse very quickly.
One of the worst-hit places is the famous cedar valley, where almost two out of every five trees have already died. Other forests in Kakomalis, Machairas, and Akamas are also in a very bad state. Important local trees like the golden oak are dying. Forestry teams are now checking all the forests to understand how bad the damage is. The director said sadly, "We will lose many centuries-old trees."
Young trees are the first to die because their roots are not deep. However, after so many dry years, even the oldest, largest trees are now dying. The lack of water is also affecting wildlife, as rivers and natural springs are drying up.
In my opinion, this is a very worrying situation. The loss of these old trees would be a terrible blow to Cyprus's nature. The future of the forests now depends almost completely on how much it rains this coming winter. If there is not enough rain, officials fear the situation will become much worse.