in-cyprus 18 November 2025 - by Angelos Nikolaou
Parliament’s agriculture committee debates today a government decision to transfer part of the Department of Forests to the interior ministry, amid strong opposition from forestry officials and organised groups.
The working group implementing the cabinet decision has been called to parliament. The decision, taken on 17 September 2025, involves transferring the fire service and Department of Forests personnel dealing with forest protection activities—prevention, preparedness and suppression—under one umbrella alongside the civil defence department.
The decision includes renaming the interior ministry to “ministry of interior and civil protection”, a move the government describes as pivotal for modernising the crisis management mechanism and handling extreme weather events.
The Department of Forests is expected to present strong reservations at the agriculture committee, arguing the decision—already incorporated into the 2026 state budget—could weaken effectiveness in preventing and suppressing forest fires.
Department representatives are expected to repeat that forest protection cannot be fragmented, citing the Xanthopoulos Report from February 2025, which they say documents the effectiveness of the unified model applied in state forests.
The Xanthopoulos report, prepared by forester-researcher Gavriil Xanthopoulos, notes that extreme fires cannot be eliminated but can only be managed like earthquakes or typhoons through prevention, preparedness and rapid response systems.
Currently, responsibility for countryside fires is divided between two main bodies, according to the report.
The Department of Forests handles fires within or within two kilometres of state forests and applies an integrated system of prevention, preparedness and suppression.
The fire service handles the rest of the countryside and urban areas, but prevention lies with district administrations and local authorities.
This division of responsibilities results in coordination gaps, different approaches and areas not covered operationally in the same way, the report says.
Many rural fire stations are in areas under the Department of Forests’ responsibility, whilst other areas remain sparsely covered.
The fire service has dozens of other missions beyond fires, including rescues and industrial accidents, which reduces staff availability and operational readiness for countryside fires.
The report recommends a radical redistribution of responsibility areas between the Department of Forests and the fire service based on geographical, ecological and operational criteria.
Under this plan, the Department of Forests would take on all areas with forest vegetation and almost all Natura 2000 areas (92.75%)—the most difficult fronts—with coverage allowing firefighting forces to arrive within 10 minutes.
The fire service would focus on settlements, crops and low-vegetation areas where access is easier and incidents typically require less specialised equipment.
The logic is to have compact and clear responsibility: the Department of Forests for forests and the fire service for people and infrastructure, according to the report.
The two services would continue to operate in support of each other where required, but with clear coordination protocols.
According to the report’s data, the Department of Forests currently has 108 fire engines, whilst the fire service has 117 and other bodies and volunteers have a total of 295, mainly light vehicles.
To cover requirements on a 24-hour basis with 12-hour shifts and rest day needs, each new forest station would require six forestry officers (one senior first-class forestry officer and five forestry officers) and 20 to 32 forest firefighters, depending on the number and type of fire engines, according to the report.
After breaking down by station, this produces a need for 108 officers and 476 forest firefighters for the new stations. Beyond these, staffing is needed for four special support teams and 26 new observation posts at existing and new forest stations.
Each special support team requires five forestry officers and 20 forest firefighters, totalling 20 forestry officers and 80 forest firefighters.
One senior forestry officer position is planned for every three new forest stations. Coverage of certain staffing gaps at existing stations is also needed.
The government maintains that concentrating services under one command strengthens operational response and coordination, as recent experiences managing extreme events have shown, it says.
Announcing the decision, President Nikos Christodoulides called it “a most significant reform”, stressing that merging the fire service, forest firefighters, civil defence and related services into one unified mechanism would lead to a more effective and modern national civil protection mechanism, similar to models in other European states.
However, the Department of Forests expresses deep concern and strong disagreement. Department director Savvas Iezekiel warns that breaking up unified forest management “constitutes a serious threat” to protecting Cyprus’s forests, noting that forest protection is inextricably linked with all the department’s functions.
“Forest management is indivisible. Any isolation of fire protection from other activities is extremely dangerous,” he said, stressing that over 95% of department staff are directly involved in preparedness and standby programmes for forest fires.
The Department of Forests employees’ branch of PASYDY takes a similar stance, speaking in an announcement of “fragmentation of forest management” and warning that transferring part of the staff and responsibilities “constitutes an enormous threat” to forests, the environment, society and the economy.
In statements after the 17 September 2025 cabinet decision, deputy minister to the president Irini Piki stressed that this reform continues the 2023 decision to create a national civil protection mechanism. Piki referred to European funding for reforming the civil protection system.
Responding to criticism, she noted that climate change impacts make unified coordination of all involved services imperative.
She also stressed that national operational plans will be updated and, in response to a question about possible transfer of police departments, clarified that police are not included in the decision.
She also mentioned creating a national coordinator position and possible future changes to the ministry’s administrative structure.
