The government is moving forward with reforestation projects at a significant cost, with the end goal of installing photovoltaic parks, as indicated by the Auditor General in response to a report from the Chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee, Zacharias Koulias.
Koulias raised concerns about the felling of trees on agricultural land for photovoltaic installation.
Addressing the Minister of Agriculture, the Committee Chairman urged him to provide guidance for the preparation of a bill to “completely rule out,” as he put it, the cutting of trees and, in general, the installation of photovoltaic panels on agricultural land.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Interior informed lawmakers that an order is pending from the Minister of Interior, through which agricultural land will be excluded from photovoltaic installation.
Mr. Koulias suggested that photovoltaic panels can be installed on buildings (both public and private) and in many other areas unrelated to agricultural land.
The President of the Cyprus Land Development Corporation, Andreas Kyprianou, agreed that agricultural land should not be exploited for the installation of photovoltaic parks. He suggested, “Install them around airports, dams, etc.”
He also advocated for the preparation of a spatial planning study that will identify suitable locations for photovoltaic installations to avoid wastage of agricultural land.