The recent initiative by the Department of Forests to plant 21 olive trees from different Mediterranean varieties and countries, to create the Peace Garden at the National Forest Park of the Pedagogical Academy in Nicosia, was marred by the actions of one or more individuals, who cut down most of the trees just below the soil.
According to a complaint made to Politis by a park visitor, he discovered on 24 December that a deliberate act had targeted all the young olive trees of foreign varieties, leaving the Cypriot variety untouched. The visitor even expressed concerns about possible political motives behind the incident.
These concerns are reinforced by warnings previously issued by the Open Initiative for the Academy Park. In its most recent meeting with the Department of Forests, the group had highlighted that olives from Turkey and Israel could be at risk of vandalism, following reactions on social media after the inclusion of these varieties in the 21-tree Peace Garden was announced.
“We expected it. I had mentioned in a meeting with the Department of Forests that these particular olives, from Israel and Turkey, were likely to be vandalised,” said Petroula Petrou on behalf of the Initiative, while not ruling out other motives, as similar incidents have occurred in the park in the past. She noted that, during the same meeting, the Department of Forests reported that some branches had already been removed from the Turkish variety.
“It is tragic because we are talking about a ‘Peace Garden’. This is a park we had hoped would be planted to become greener, yet some people may cut down trees because of their variety, for political reasons,” she said.
The Department of Forests confirmed that a significant number of trees had been cut a few centimetres below the ground. The vandalism only became apparent once the leaves began to wither, although watering had continued in the meantime. The Parks Division has decided to wait for a period to see if the trees regrow; otherwise, they will be replaced, spokesperson Glafkos Kyriakou told Politis. The incident has been reported to the police, but no witnesses have come forward so far to identify the perpetrators.
“There have been vandalism incidents in the park before, including malicious fires. We have park rangers who patrol the area continuously, but it seems the perpetrators disappear when they see a patrol. The vandalism occurs when the rangers leave the area,” said Mr Kyriakou.
The vision for the Peace Garden originated with an Italian architect, who travels across Mediterranean countries planting olives from each nation, according to Petroula Petrou. The locations hosting these trees are called “Peace Gardens”, she added, because the Mediterranean region is prone to wildfires.
This article was originally published on the Greek-language Politis website.