On Sunday, November 30, 2025, following an invitation from the Action Committee for the Revitalization of Mylopotamos (EDAM), approximately 100 people from all over Kythira gathered in the community’s central square, with the aim of removing and completely burning the roadside vegetation destroyed by the fire at the entrance to the community and planting trees in the same area.
On behalf of EDAM, all members of the Committee were present and participated in the work, while responsibility for operational coordination, carrying out the necessary tasks, and procuring the new saplings.
This tree-planting initiative was undertaken solely for aesthetic purposes by the Community, since the burned grassland and forest vegetation was expected to regenerate quickly on its own, according to the guidelines provided by experts.
This heartwarming turnout of dozens of ordinary people (many of them with their entire families, including young children) filled us all with indescribable joy and optimism, that what took place this past July was not the end, but the dawn of a new, regenerative creation by nature and by people with a heightened awareness.
That, after all, was what we wanted to symbolize by holding the dance in August in Mylopotamos, just a few weeks after the tragic disaster.
So, all together, we managed to plant about 300 new trees (pines, holm oaks, arbutus, oleanders, cedar pines, etc.) along the road connecting the kiosk in Dokana with the Home Economics School, while the young people of Kythira gave us a special thrill by planting an entire forest of cedars and cypresses along the road leading to Agios Petros Araion.
At the same time, the Deputy Mayor of Kythira, Mr. Katsanevakis, used the municipal water truck to water the new saplings.
The next day, December 1, about 10 of us—this time from Mylopotamos alone—continued clearing away and burning all the unsightly charred plants that were getting in the way of the new shoots.
Admittedly, the scope of the work was much greater than we had anticipated.
As a result, a large section remained seemingly unfinished.
However, our passion was such that, on the one hand, the permanent residents of Mylopotamos committed to repeating these cleanup efforts every 10–15 days, and, on the other hand, EDAM members scheduled a new volunteer drive for tree planting toward the end of January and early February of the new year.
EDAM would like to extend its warmest thanks to all the ordinary volunteers who responded so eagerly to its call and planted the first seeds of nature’s rebirth in Mylopotamos.
We would also like to thank the dozens of ordinary people who contributed financially from their own pockets so that new saplings could be purchased and certain tasks could be carried out by professionals.
Special thanks to the organizations and associations of Kythira that contributed financially to this effort, as well as to the island’s professionals for their in-kind contributions.
Finally, many thanks to our dear agronomist and fellow villager, Athanasios Samios, not only for his ideas and professional advice, but also for the significant personal effort he selflessly devoted to this project.
