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Service Description

Oak trees in Kea have provided food, raw material, charcoal, but perhaps most importantly they have created a legend. With every oak tree a nymph is born, says the Homeric hymn to Aphrodite. The Hamadryads, the souls of the trees, protect them and die with them. But in an age when the land of Greece is viewed as housing plots, trees are simply obstacles to the grand vision of "development". Yiannis Darras meets the modern Hamadryad who has come from California to Kea to save the island's oak forest, reminding the old and teaching the young that lowly acorn cups are not waste but an untapped resource. Cookies made from Tzia acorn flour can be found on the shelves of delis in several corners of the world, while the acorn shells are sold to tanneries in Europe. But the greatest gain is that the land of Tzia has once again garnered the respect and interest of its inhabitants.