The forestry department is under fire following a damning report released by the audit office on Tuesday, revealing serious irregularities in the management of state forest land, and more than €1.3 million in overdue revenue remaining uncollected.

The audit, covering the period from 2018 to 2025, points to systemic failures in lease management and environmental protection, with the auditor general, Andreas Papaconstantinou, describing the findings as ‘deeply concerning’.

Central among them is the case of an adventure park in Foini, where a lease was signed for 40,000 square metres of forest land despite the company having applied for only 20,000.

The report states that no supplementary application or documentation exists to justify the increase.

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Further irregularities emerged in the same case, with the leaseholder failing to proceed with required construction from 2015 and only submitting a relevant application in 2023, while the department took no effective action.

“There are no minutes explaining why the area doubled,” the department later acknowledged in its response.

The audit also highlights failures in environmental safeguards.

In Macheras national forest park, the leasing process to an association proceeded without reference to the protected Cypriot grass snake, despite the department itself having publicly announced the discovery of the species in the area.

The environmental report submitted during the process made no mention of the snake.

Financial management was another major concern.

As of last December, overdue revenue stood at €1.3 million, including around €1 million linked to leases of state forest land.

A significant loss to the state arose from a failed court case involving €917,395 owed by a hotel in Troodos, where the Republic was unable to prove the legality of rent increases.

Auditors also found long delays in rent revisions for leases in Ayia Napa, citing outdated contractual provisions that prevented adjustments and led to lost income.

The report documents a series of violations across coastal and recreational sites.

In Limassol and Famagusta, yacht clubs carried out unauthorised constructions and subleased premises to third parties to operate cafeterias without approval.

In Ayia Napa and Paralimni, hotels intervened within forest zones, while in one case an attempted land exchange failed after the state granted the wrong plot “by mistake”.

At a campsite in Spilia, permanent caravans and fencing were found to have altered the natural environment, prompting plans to close the site for redevelopment.

44 departmental employees were found to have deficits in recorded working hours and serious shortcomings in attendance systems at the Lythrodontas forest station.

In its official response, the forestry department accepted the majority of the auditor general’s recommendations, while attributing many of the failures to chronic understaffing and broader dysfunction within the public service.

It said deadlines for cross-checking data with the land registry were unrealistic, stating that “the whole work is interrupted by other urgent cases” due to staff shortages at the registry.

The department rejected suggestions that firewood permits had been drastically reduced, arguing that the audit data may have confused timber with firewood.

It announced measures to improve oversight, including the appointment of 36 new trade inspectors and an amendment on forms to allow checks of applicants’ criminal records for forest offences.

On hotel leases in Ayia Napa, officials conceded that revisions were necessary but said they were “legally trapped”, explaining that any changes require the consent of the leaseholders, limiting the state’s ability to increase rents.

For the Foini adventure park, the department issued an ultimatum, stating that “in case the planning permit is not secured, the lease agreement will be terminated”.

Addressing other contentious cases, the department defended its decision not to demolish a retaining wall built on forest land in Protaras, arguing that removal would risk rockfalls onto the beach and endanger the public.

In Ayia Napa, it admitted again that land had been granted “by mistake” and insisted a new exchange was being considered.