Something that I’ve noticed recently is that flowering bushes and trees have begun to lose/have lost their flowers. It’s probably due to the Mediterranean climate; the dry summer has come to an end, and we’ve been seeing rain since the start of the wet winter season. The flowers will come back soon with wildflower season, but I’ll miss them!

A larger observation I’ve made is the push towards sustainable tourism. Cyprus has a great climate (especially in the summer) and a favorable location, which makes it an ideal spot for tourism. Though tourism brings in great revenue and benefits for the island, it can wreak havoc on natural ecosystems because tourists do not have the appropriate education to treat the environment well. Cyprus has many projects that promote sustainability education; this is extremely important because Cypriot beaches are a hot spot for tourists, but also a big area of pollution. Some of these projects are Cyprus Environment Foundation, Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free, and Greening Cyprus Beaches.

These projects are all put together by the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative, founded in 2006.