The Coimbra Polytechnic (IPC), in partnership with the Folgonatur Association, the Baldios, the Folgosinho Parish Council and the Gouveia Chamber, carried out, last Saturday, a reforestation action in Serra da Estrela.
The initiative involved the participation of around 50 IPC volunteers – students, teaching and non-teaching staff – and 13 members of the Polytechnic of Viseu. Together, they planted 1,778 trees of native and autochthonous species (black pine (Pinus nigra), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and birches (Betula pendula/celtiberica)) in an area of the parish of Folgosinho heavily affected by forest fires that took place in the summer of 2022. .
This action also had the support of Ansell Portugal – Industrial Gloves, Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda., which provided protective gloves for all volunteers.
The aim was to mark International Forest Day and World Tree Day, which will be celebrated on the 21st, by raising community awareness of the importance of assuming social and environmental responsibility when taking actions related to sustainability and the environment. .
“It is urgent to invest in preventive carbon efficiency attitudes and behaviors that, in some way, guarantee the conservation of nature and the sustainable development of future generations. We live in a country where fires are a constant and where, globally, we are struggling with climate change, which is why these types of initiatives are extremely relevant. The IPC must help to train citizens who are aware of their impacts on society”, stated Ana Ferreira, vice-president of the IPC and responsible for the sustainability area.
“We know that the forest takes tens or hundreds of years to grow, but when it is destroyed we are devastating an ecosystem with great biodiversity. Actions like this are fundamental, in order to defend it as a valuable source of natural wealth», highlighted Ana Ferreira.
With this action, IPC aims to reinforce its social responsibility towards the external community, promoting the planting of trees in a deforested area, and offsetting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced in its daily activities, as trees are one of the main mechanisms for capturing carbon emissions on the planet: especially during its growth phase.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, store it and produce oxygen, which is essential for us to breathe. The action also contributed to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDGs 13 – Climate Action and 15 – Protect life on Earth.
This volunteer action is carried out within the scope of the “Polytechnic of Coimbra +Sustainable” Project, which has as its main objective the adoption of sustainable strategic measures throughout the Institution, with a view to changing behavior, in order to guarantee the future of the Institution and of future generations, safeguarding environmental health and quality of life, not only for students and workers, but also for the surrounding community.
Folganatur is a non-profit association, regularly created at the end of 2017, after the fires that also hit the Folgosinho Parish area. Since then, Folgonatur has tried to contribute to the recovery of Serra da Estrela, mobilizing people, companies and institutions to carry out reforestation actions.
