Restorations to traditional dry-stone walls damaged in the fire that swept through Limassol’s mountain region in July have begun, the Laona Foundation said on Wednesday as it aims to protect communities from autumn flooding.

On Saturday, with support from the Souni-Zanatzia community and 20 volunteers, 36 metres of stone walls were repaired across two burnt sites.

The foundation considers this restoration the first line of defence against heavy autumn rains, which could cause erosion on bare, unprotected hillsides.

The dry stone terraces work in conjunction with the gabion barriers being built by the water development department, which is why the restored sites are located at higher elevations than the planned gabion installations.

Under the guidance of master craftsman and trainer Panayiotis Panayiotou, volunteers from the community were trained in the traditional technique of dry-stone construction, that is making stone walls without the use of binding material, thus allowing rainwater to pass through while reducing its erosive force.

The initiative was funded by the Andrey and Julia Dashin’s Foundation.

On July 23 a fire began in Limassol mountain villages, which left two people dead, more than one per cent of the island destroyed and hundreds of homes and other buildings left unusable.