A new theme park called Athalassa Bee Park was inaugurated in Nicosia.
The official ceremony was attended by: the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, Special Commissioner for Environmental Protection Antonia Theodosiou, the Deputy Director of the Forestry Department Andreas Christou, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cyta Maria Tsiakka, children from Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Primary School.
All those present had the opportunity to taste four different types of honey, see the hives and receive information about bees prepared by the Beekeeping Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Athalassa Bee Park, which we are inaugurating today, is a clear example of our efforts to protect pollinators and support actions to inform and raise awareness among citizens," Theodosiou emphasized.
She also pointed out the crucial role of bees in maintaining ecological balance and biodiversity and stated the need to protect the environment. Furthermore, she mentioned the measures and actions taken by the ministry in this regard. Among the main ones are the implementation of the National Action Plan for the rational use of plant protection products, support to farmers as well as the beekeeping sector under the Beekeeping Program. She ended by saying that the ministry is working on measures to support beekeepers affected by the catastrophic fire in Arakapa through the tree planting program to combat climate change.
The main goal of the Athalassa Bee Park project is to spread the word about the benefits of bees and the need to preserve their ecosystem, as well as beekeeping and honey production.
The new park has an area of more than 16 thousand m2. It is part of the Athalassa Park National Forest, located in its eastern part. The new public space includes:
a lake with drinking water for bees;
an apiary designed with Cypriot beekeeping traditions and modern technology;
pedestrian paths, along which there are interactive stands about the life of bees and hive construction.
It should be noted that all around the park are planted trees, shrubs and flowers that bees like to pollinate. Work on the creation of Athalassa Bee Park began in 2022. The project took 24 months to complete. The park was designed and built with joint funding from the Forestry Department and Cyta. The total budget of the project amounted to 30 thousand euros.