Close to 40 thousand trees planted in the municipality of Loulé

Investing in afforestation to promote the decarbonization of the territory and contribute to the sustainability of the Planet continued to be the focus of the Loulé City Council in 2023. The data attests to this: throughout the last year, almost 40 thousand trees were planted trees in the municipality of Loulé.

The planting actions were carried out under various projects promoted by the Municipality, and involved not only the Municipality itself, parish councils, municipal companies, and schools, but also – and above all – citizens.

As part of the action “Combating desertification – Ameixial”, financed by REACT-EU of the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program (COMPETE 2020), an area of 147 hectares was reforested in the parish of Ameixial. More than 25,100 trees were planted here, including cork oaks, holm oaks and strawberry trees, but the mixed dry orchard land (carob and fig trees) was also replanted.

In celebration of environmental events (International Forest Day or Autochthonous Forest Day) and other themed days, the Municipality offered the population 2500 trees so that the community itself could collaborate in this common goal of making the municipality of Loulé greener.

The “A Tree Gives Life” campaign made it possible to distribute 11,442 specimens to applicants, such as various entities in the municipality and residents. Citizens and organizations that signed up to participate in this environmental citizenship program received, among other species, carob trees, olive trees, oaks, cork oaks or strawberry trees, which they had the opportunity to plant on their land, gardens or backyards.

It should also be noted that, at the beginning of last year, MEP Francisco Guerreiro took the initiative to plant 170 trees in Alte to offset the ecological footprint of the flights he carries out between Portugal and European institutions. An initiative that received, from the outset, the support of the Municipality.

Finally, as part of the projects carried out, some arteries in urban areas were planted with trees with a total of more than 494 trees, bringing a little greenery to public spaces outside rural areas.
It should be noted that the fact that the species planted are mainly indigenous, better adapted to the climatic conditions and, as such, without much need for water, is a relevant fact for the sustainability of the territory.

All of these actions meant saving carbon in the order of 300 tons of CO2 in a year and nutrients in the soil, and constituted an important contribution to combating desertification in the territory and, at the same time, promoting its resilience in the face of risk.

It should be noted that reforestation is one of the measures emanating from the PMAC (Municipal Climate Action Plan) of Loulé, the first in the country to be approved, and which constitutes a guiding instrument, composed of a set of lines of intervention and priority actions to promote a more resilient territory.

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