The mastic traditional harvesting and production, unique to the Greek island of Chios and known worldwide as “mastiha Chiou”, has been placed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. As announced by the Culture ministry, UNESCO had accepted Greece’s application for the recognition of Chios’ traditional mastic practices in its annual meeting in Paris last month. The natural resin of the mastic tree, the “tears of Chios” as it is called, has been found exceptionally contributing to medicine while offers countless health benefits. At “mastichohoria”, the 24 southern villages of the island, which rely solely on the production of mastic, the resin cultivating and harvesting process passes on from generation to generation. The harvest takes place from the beginning of July to the beginning of October. The “Mastiha Chiou” is already granted protected designation of origin (PDO) in the EU.