The Troodos National Forest Park is located in the middle of Cyprus, covers a location of 9337 hectares and hosts invaluable plant and animal habitats. Many villages maintaining local culture, tradition and customs can be found scattered all over the Troodos range.
The Troodos forest occupies the center with the range and includes its highest peak, Mount Olympus, which is also the greatest peak on the entire island. The location was designated a National Forest Park in 1992 so that you can safeguard it's rich plant and animal life and also to research the values and functions with the area, whether they are ecological, scientific, recreational or economic.
To state that Troodos is full of wildlife will be something of your understatement, using the area featuring 770 plant species, 12 which are exclusive to the Park; that's, they can not be located somewhere else in Cyprus or indeed, the entire world. The Park constitutes the primary habitat in Cyprus for a lot of plant species, such as the wild service tree, cotoneaster and barberry. Because of strikes, Troodos is considered a botanical heaven and possesses been classified one of the most important mountainous habitats of flora in Europe.
It is not just plants that brings individuals from around the globe to go to Troodos however; animal life in the Park can also be rich and also high conservational value. The warmest seasons of the season see various reptile species appear, including the blunt-nosed viper and also the Mediterranean chameleon. Several mammals can be found in the Park too. A friendly visitor to the north and west elements of the Park may be the rare - and scarcely seen - Cyprus mouflon, as the fox and hedgehog, which both live in the Park, have evolved to an indigenous subspecies, almost certainly because of the very long periods of isolation within the habitats of Cyprus. Bats can also be found in large numbers in Troodos, creating home within the old buildings and mines which are strewn throughout the Park.
The bats aren't the only species experiencing the fine old buildings located within the Park, however. Tourists throughout the planet come to the Park, not only take pleasure in the wildlife but to find out 12th to 15th century churches, winemaking villages and pine forests, and some monasteries dating from your Byzantine period. Quaint villages offering shops and bakeries along with a laid back alpine atmosphere will also be just waiting found by travellers going to the Park.