This tree is not native to Cyprus but the Forestry Department have found a useful way to utilise it. Asbestos was mined in Cyprus for around 80 years before the discovery of its dangerous side led to it being no longer a commercial proposition to carry on. A massive amount of devastation was caused to an area of the Troodos Forest so large that it could be seen from space. The Forestry Department inherited the task of repairing this damage, one that has been ongoing for several years. They have created a Botanical Garden on part of the site, with a Visitor Centre housed in one of the old mine buildings that has been renovated to look, on the outside, exactly as it did when in use while the interior has been remodeled for its current task.
The majority of the area is gradually being brought back to life with new plantings, seeding, etc, using mainly plants that are native to the location. However some use is made of pioneer plants that grow quickly and spread by such methods as suckering so helping to stabilise the soil on slopes, and so on. The tree mentioned above, Robinia pseudoacacia, is one of these that has been drafted in for that purpose. Among its other assets are the fact that it will grow in poor soil, at the altitude required, its flowers attract bees, its leaves can be eaten by the native mouflon and its bark by hares.
