People vs Corporations:
Resistance for the protection of Mathiatis mines
Mathiatis is a village situated in Nicosia district, at the foot of the Troodos mountains area. We visited the village on a late sunny afternoon, when the heat would give us a break. It is a small and quiet village, surrounded by the beautiful landscape that is so typical in Cyprus, juniper trees, hills and fields with bales of hay, and traces of the history of the island. Unlike the rest of the villages we visited around Cyprus though, few historical buildings have been preserved through time. What makes it so fascinating and attractive is its landscape as the village is found close to an ancient mining site, dating back to at least 600BC but probably even to Neolithic age, it’s also a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status for “natural and cultural landscape”, such is its historical and natural value.
Yet, another reason brought us to Mathiatis. In the last years, a renewed interest in mining has arisen, and a plan to reopen the two mines that are located there triggered the mobilization of a part of the population of Mathiatis who opposed such a plan.
Two mines can be found in the community, one North and one South of Mathiatis (Strongylos mine). The North mine started being fully exploited in 1935 by an American company called Cyprus Mines Corporation (CMC) which was looking for gold deposits. The CMC then sold the mine to the Hellenic Copper Mines (HCM) due to the poor financial potential of the deposit. The HCM gained the Mining Lease in 1965 and started exploiting the deposits, producing copper-free minerals and pyrites. In total, HCM extracted approximately 2 million tonnes of minerals until 1990, when the Mining Lease expired. North Mathiatis mine has been abandoned since 1987 and resulted in an open-pit sulphide mine, one of many in Cyprus, with serious consequences for the environment.
Due to the absence of legislation, mines are left abandoned without requalification measures after the cessation of mining, effectively extending over an even longer period the environmental impacts in the surrounding area. In the case of North Mathiatis mine, studies assessed a potential threat for water and soil pollution due to acid mine drainage produced by the oxidation of pyrite “a high level of AMD was discovered, together with some heavy metals contamination” (Kostarelos et al. 2015:271). This has already caused a dire environmental situation in similar cases in Cyprus itself (Kostarelos et al. 2015), further stressing the water crisis on the island.
The most recent confrontation in the area started in 2017, when the Hellenic Copper Mines proposed to reopen the Strongylos mine, south of Mathiatis, in order to extract gold. The local community decided to organise in a movement and fight against the proposed plan to protect the old mining site.
As mentioned before, the area surrounding the village of Mathiatis is of great relevance from a natural and historical point of view: first of all, geologically speaking, it forms part of the Troodos ophiolite, that is a fragment of the oceanic crust and an example of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit; secondly, its abandoned galleries are the natural habitat of three species of endangered bats, protected by European laws; lastly archeological reasons make the site relevant thanks to some traces of early human activities, such as slag heaps, tunnels, furnaces and artefacts which have been found in the area, to the point that the site has been included in the Preliminary List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2002.
The plans for the new mining activities would put in jeopardy the preservation of such a valuable area, since it would include cutting trees, drilling and excavation, leading to the alteration of a unique natural landscape and to further pollute an already damaged area. These activities would have had a detrimental impact on the environment, including on cultivated lands, and on the local population, especially affecting their health and well-being, since “soil contamination creates a significant risk to both human health and natural eco-systems, and is a priority when reusing industrial land.” (Kostarelos et al. 2015:269).
The supposed benefits received by the community from the reopening of the mining would be, according to its detractors, irrelevant: as a matter of fact, according to Cypriot law, the government could retain only 1% of the company’s profit, while the negative consequences on the health and environment are poised to be priceless. Moreover it would have most likely led to the further destruction of archeological artifacts due to the company’s operations.
The resistance movement involving the local population had already arisen in the early 2010s, when North Mathiatis Mine was proposed to become a dump for construction material. The movement reorganised and strengthened itself in 2017, when the “Historical and Environmental Protection Group” came to life to fight against the company’s plan of reopening the South Mine, but also to challenge a whole vision of development that aims at an unsustainable kind of progress based merely on economic profit for the few. On the contrary, they advocate for a greater attention to communities and ecological well-being that would contribute to the protection and promotion of the cultural and environmental heritage of the entire island, hence going beyond the area of Mathiatis.
During our visit we had the pleasure to meet these dedicated people that committed to the safeguard of their community and of the environment they live in, struggling to protect such a valuable place despite how difficult it is to challenge a big company with little resources. They showed us around and told us the history of the site and the struggle they went through to protect Strongylon mine.
Their voices were heard in the end and they succeeded in stopping the project and in restoring the area. Now they are proposing alternatives to the old, scrapped project that this time would preserve the natural, cultural and historical heritage of the site. In fact, the group has since advocated for the area around the Southern mine to be made an open air museum. In their intention, such a move would allow for the village of Mathiatis not only to help to preserve their heritage, as well as the Cypriot heritage at large, but it would also provide an economic opportunity thanks to the renewed influx of tourists.
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The proposed museum would also represent a move towards the attainment of the SDGs because it would favor a more sustainable economic, social and environmental model and as it would promote a more long-term vision of the future around the area of Mathiatis. What would really help attaining this plan, is to finally obtain the UNESCO status, that’s why they are putting pressure on the government to further the candidacy, a call left unanswered at the moment as some governmental departments keep squabbling on how to use the site.
In the end, the Mathiatis resistance was a successful case of an environmental movement that saw communities mobilizing against the mining and extraction industry in defence of their well-being, of the environment they live in and of its natural resources. With limited support sporadically provided by government departments, the support of other NGOs and environmentalist movements proved fundamental for the formation of the group. They recognise that another factor that helped them was the size of the case which they considered small and with limited economic stakes, but despite this, the movement is a success story and a model that could be implemented in other areas of Cyprus and beyond. However, even if the area has been preserved, little to no measures have been taken in order to limit or even reverse the negative environmental effects that legacy mining still causes in the area. Even more critically, nothing prevents other mining companies from getting involved in the area once again, something certified by the Ministry of Agriculture in December who, according to the group, in a report identified Mathatis as a site that could be further exploited. The threat for the area seems then never-ending, with the group constantly active to promote the preservation of this heritage.
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We left Mathiatis inspired by the people we met and by their commitment, their fight that is not stopping because they would not let their home and their community to suffer for the profit of a company. What we are taking with us, is the awareness that it’s not only their struggle to be fought, it is everyone’s. We are all touched by developmental projects that degrade the environment and we will all lose if the cultural heritage of the place is lost. Solidarity across communities and nations is the only answer, because united we are stronger and our voices can be heard.
If you want to be part of a positive change, follow the group on Facebook and Instagram. Share their story, support them and their fight to protect Mathiatis and for a better world. And, of course, do not forget to get a tour of the area yourself!
Links, Documents and Further Readings:
Environmental Justice (2018), The women who keep the gold in the ground (2018): http://www.envjustice.org/2018/10/women-keep-gold-ground/
EJAtlas (2018), Women activists in the forefront of resistance against Strongylos mine, South Mathiatis, Cyprus: https://ejatlas.org/conflict/women-activists-against-south-mathiatis-mine-cyprus
Historical and Environmental Protection Group: https://www.facebook.com/historicalandenvironmentalgroupmathiatis
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In Cypris (2018), Contested Mathiatis mine restoration to be discussed in parliament: https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/contested-mathiatis-mine-restoration-to-be-discussed-in-parliament/
Kostarelos et al. (2015), Legacy Soil Contamination at Abandoned Mine Sites: Making a Case for Guidance on Soil Protection, Bull Environ Contam Toxicol.
Stylianou et al. Environmental impacts of abandoned sulphide mines - the example of Mathiatis Mine in Cyprus:
http://uest.ntua.gr/conference2014/pdf/Stylianou_et_al.pdf
UNESCO, World Heritage Convention, Mathiatis South:
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