For decades, the conversation around protecting Greece’s ancient monuments focused largely on restoration: conserving fragile ruins, stabilizing ancient structures and repairing the damage of time. But as climate pressures intensify and wildfire seasons grow more destructive, officials are increasingly confronting a more immediate problem surrounding many archaeological sites: accumulated waste, overgrown vegetation and neglected landscapes that can turn historic areas into vulnerable zones.

For the past two years  a sprawling cleanup initiative known as the “Cyclone Project” is attempting to confront that reality. Presented this week at the National Gallery in Athens, the program — a partnership between Greece’s Culture Ministry and the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation — offered a rare accounting of the physical burden that has built up around some of the country’s most important archaeological sites.

Since 2024, teams working under the project have carried out interventions at 76 archaeological sites across Greece, removing 1,850 tons of waste and collecting more than 4.8 million individual pieces of trash. Organizers said the total volume of debris removed over two years is equivalent to five times the volume of the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, the cliffside ancient sanctuary overlooking the Aegean Sea south of Athens.

The project’s crews , which are comprised by four active field teams staffed by around 80 workers and supported by more than 5,600 volunteers, conduct daily operations. The interventions have focused on surface cleaning, waste removal, vegetation clearance, and management of surrounding landscapes. According to figures presented during the event, each team removes more than one ton of waste per day. Officials said the interventions were designed not only to improve the appearance and accessibility of the sites, but also to reduce fire risk and strengthen preventive protection measures at a time when Greece faces increasingly severe summer heat and wildfires.

The work has unfolded across some of Greece’s most significant ancient and medieval sites. The list includes the Acropolis of Mycenae and the citadel of Tiryns, both Bronze Age fortresses recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the medieval Byzantine settlement of Mystras in the Peloponnese, also a UNESCO site; the Castles of Koroni and Methoni; the ancient sanctuary at Delphi; and the Villa of Herodes Atticus, a second-century Roman estate near Athens still used as a performance venue.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the climate crisis is already directly affecting the country’s cultural heritage and argued that monument protection can no longer rely on isolated restoration efforts.

“What is required is strategy, interdisciplinary documentation, long-term planning and cross-sector cooperation,” she said, describing the Cyclone Project as a model of coordinated action with a lasting impact on culture, the environment and local communities.

Evi Lazou Laskaridi, Stavros Papastavrou and Lina Mendoni

Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou described the protection of the environment and cultural heritage as “an indivisible national responsibility,” while Evi Lazou Laskaridi, president of the Athanasios K. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, said the initiative had developed a systematic methodology for interventions and data collection that allows the work to be measured and tracked over time.

The project began in Argolida , in northeastern Peloponnese in 2024, covering 23 sites there and another 23 in neighboring Messenia. In 2025 it expanded into Messinia, Phocis, Ilia, Laconia and Arcadia. Further expansion into Boeotia and Larissa is planned for 2026.

The event also saw the signing of a three-year extension of the memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the Laskaridis Foundation, formalizing the program’s continuation and planned expansion to new regions.

The Culture Ministry and the Athanasios K. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation signed a three-year extension of their cooperation agreement, paving the way for the “Cyclone Project” program to continue into new regions.

Organizers also presented a related initiative known as the “Typhoon Project,” which focuses on cleaning remote Greek coastlines. Organizers said research conducted through that program identified a direct link between marine pollution and inland waste sources, an insight that led to the creation of the Cyclone Project.