Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment Costas Kadis, has inauguration of the Platania Info Point, created under the iLIFE-TROODOS Project, the latter being a scheme aimed at promoting nature and ecosystem-related services in the Troodos National Forest Park, which is of invaluable ecological importance. Spanning over an area of 93 square kilometers, Troodos National Forest Park currently hosts 92 of a toral 143 total endemic plant species present in Cyprus. Of these, 37 species are found only in Troodos and nowhere else on the planet! Eighty seven endangered plant species have been recorded in the area, out of the 238 species reported in the Cyprus Flora Red Book.
The importance of the flora of Troodos National Forest Park is also illustrated by the fact that it hosts the largest number of native and endemic plants from any other area of Cyprus. So it is rightly seen as one of the top 13 areas with a high percentage of plant biodiversity in the Mediterranean. The iLIFE-TROODOS project has a total budget of €1.3 million, of which 60% is co-financed by Community funds.
The program includes the Department of Forests (lead partner), the Department of the Environment, Frederick University and Contact Advertising Agency Ltd. Inaugurating the Info Point, the Minister stated, inter alia, that "any effort to promote this invaluable objective, such as the one undertaken through the iLIFE-TROODOS project, is of great importance. The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment has set very high on its priorities the protection of the natural environment of our country and will support in every possible way such actions and initiatives."
