Filenews 3 June 2022 - by Evangelia Sizopoulou
Climate change has begun to concern Cypriot citizens, who seem to have started to observe its phenomena in recent years, something that did not happen in the past. This is considered to be particularly important as Cyprus is located in southeastern Europe where it is expected to be negatively affected by the climate crisis, with impacts such as forest degradation, desertification, low air quality and lack of water.
A study by the Laboratory of Geodesy, Department of Civil Engineering and Geoinformatics, of the CUT in collaboration with the Friends of the Earth (Cyprus), which is part of the "ASTARTE" program (EXCELLENCE/0918/0341), which concerns the analysis of data on whether Cypriot residents understand and observe the effects of climate change on the forests of Cyprus, shows that a percentage of 65.6% of the participants stated that they observed moderately, large or very large degradation in coniferous forests (forests with pine trees as the predominant species).
Specifically, the observed degradation included the presence of dead or overworked trees, increased incidents of forest fires, reduced soil moisture (drought), desertification and difficulty in the regeneration of the forest.
In addition, participants were invited to classify Cypriot forests according to the extent to which they have been affected by the effects of climate change. It is noted that all forest areas in Cyprus received a significant number of votes. More specifically, the Akamas Forest was ranked first and the Troodos Forest second.
The questionnaire was distributed during the period when numerous forest fires (mainly arson actions, as indicated by the Department of Forests) took place in the Akamas area, where drought conditions were the main factor for the easy spread of fires and at the same time made their extinguishment more difficult. In the Troodos forest, the conservation of The Black Pine (Pinus Nigra) is under pressure due to warmer weather conditions and competition from other forest species such as Pinus Brutia.
In addition, participants consider that coniferous species (e.g. pines) are more threatened than other forest species.
The profile of the respondents
As noted, the study further showed that working citizens are more likely to believe in the climate crisis and observe its negative effects on forests.
In particular, a significant percentage of the unemployed were more convinced that climate change is perceived in Cyprus, but they understand less the importance of the climate crisis, the observation of forest degradation and do not consider that these phenomena affect us at this stage or that they will affect us in the future to a significant extent. This suggests that people with beliefs aligned with the climate crisis tend to have increased employability.
Moreover, there was a correlation between academic education and the belief that climate change is important (i.e. the higher one's level of education, the more likely one was to believe in the importance of climate change). Nevertheless, there was no apparent correlation between the observation of forest degradation and the level of academic education. Participants working in non-profit organizations (NGOs) observed the degradation of coniferous forests at a rate of 71.4%, i.e. 33.9% more likely than in the other categories.
Older participants (55+) believe that climate change has not been sufficiently perceived in Cyprus, while compared to younger participants, older people are more convinced that phenomena such as prolonged periods of high temperatures and more intense heatwaves are important and affect us at this stage. In addition, the same age group observed the greatest degree of forest degradation in Cyprus.
It is worth noting that the results of this research are part of the scientific article titled "Do People Understand and Observe the Effects of Climate Crisis on Forests; The Case Study of Cyprus", which was published in the scientific journal "MDPI Forest" and was evaluated by peer reviewers. The results were obtained on the basis of specially designed questionnaires. A total of 416 questionnaires were completed by residents of Cyprus.
