One fifth of the areas burned by the fires that swept through mountainous Limassol villages last week were part of the Natura 2000 network, the Eratosthenis Centre of Excellence on Monday.

In its mapping of the fire, it said 21 per cent was these areas. The protected places affected include Potamos Paramaliou, Ha Potami and Koilada tou Limniti.

“The land will take decades to recover,” the centre said, “this loss affects the heritage of the region.”

In total, the centre said, 1.3 per cent of the island’s area was burned by the fire, which broke out on July 23.

Approximately 120.7km² were burned, the centre said, adding that biodiversity, local communities and the ecosystem had all been impacted.

It said this was a “significant percentage” of land given that it was caused by a single fire.

Based on data from the WorldCover programme of the European Space Agency, 97.5 per cent of the burned area corresponds to grasslands and forests, while 1.1 per cent hit residential areas.