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Cyprus Table of Contents

Cyprus

Forestry and Fishing

The main forests of the "TRNC" were in the areas of Lapithos, Bellapais, Buffavento, Kantara, and Kartal--all located along the Kyrenia (Girne) Range. Forests located on the northern slopes of the Kyrenia Range were a mixture of pine and Mediterranean cypress. Forests on the southern slopes of the Kyrenia Range and in the Karpas Peninsula were mostly olive brush and tamarisk. Cedar and golden oak (both endemic to Cyprus), plane, and alder were also found in the "TRNC," as were species of eucalyptus and acacia. The Muslim religious foundation Evkaf had some forest holdings, but most forests were state owned and managed by the Department of Forestry, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. One of the department's aims was reforestation of the barren slopes of Pentadaktylos Mountain (Besparmak Mountain) in the Kyrenia Range and other forest areas burned during fighting in 1974, estimated at forty-eight square kilometers of "TRNC" territory. Forestry provided some employment but was of almost no significance to the economy as a whole, accounting for only 0.1 percent of GDP in the late 1980s.

The fishing industry met about 60 percent of domestic demand and was a significant source of employment in Boghaz (Bogaz) on the southern coast of the Karpas Peninsula and Kyrenia. Deep-sea fishing was done by trawlers. Most Turkish Cypriot fishermen, however, used small boats with fishing nets. Foreign vessels were not permitted to fish within the six-mile territorial limit of the "TRNC." In the late l980s, fishing accounted for only about 0.6 percent of GDP.

Data as of January 1991