Cyprus’ Forestry Department is giving away free saplings again this year under its “I Plant for the Climate 2026-2027” program.
Applications can be submitted on paper at local forest stations or by email through Friday, Nov. 6. Forms are available at forest stations and offices and on the department’s website.
Only public bodies and organized groups are eligible. They include:
- Local government (municipalities and communities).
- Schools.
- Other government services, such as the police, National Guard and hospitals.
- Church authorities, including churches, chapels and monasteries.
- Other organized groups and citizen initiatives that have legally secured suitable land for planting.
Under cabinet decisions, up to 100,000 saplings worth about €250,000 can be given away each year from the department’s nurseries during the planting season, November through February. Saplings grown in containers larger than three liters can also be included.
If demand from organized groups is low, up to 50,000 of the saplings can go to individual citizens, available throughout the planting season. Municipalities must work with organized groups to apply.
The department has kept a database of plantings since the program began, covering 2019 to the present. Prospective applicants can use it to see where trees have already been planted.
The program supports a national goal of planting 1 million saplings by 2030, part of an EU effort to plant 3 billion trees by that year.