Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change marked World Tree Day with the planting of endemic species in Fajã dos Cubres

March 24, 2023

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, marked the most recent World Tree Day, on 21 March, with an initiative to plant endemic plant species from the Azores, which took place in Fajã dos Cubres, on the island of São Jorge, and which aimed to highlight the benefits of trees and forests for the environment and society in general. 

Alonso Miguel underlined the “fundamental role of trees in maintaining ecological balance, carbon sequestration, soil protection, or even creating habitat for local biodiversity”.

For the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, “also at the social level, trees play a relevant role in improving the quality of people's life, as they create more pleasant and healthy environments to live in, leisure and recreational conditions, favourable to the practice of outdoor activities and the promotion of healthy living habits”.

“In a symbolic way, the planting was done in the middle of the Fajãs de São Jorge Biosphere Reserve, which celebrated on 20 March its seventh anniversary, thus intending to raise community awareness of the importance of developing active citizenship and ecological awareness, as well as stimulate the common responsibility in pursuing sustainable development and bequeath a balanced natural heritage for future generations,” added the governor.

The Regional Secretary stressed “the investment in the production of endemic and native plants of the Azores through ongoing LIFE projects, coordinated by the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change, and that come to respond precisely to the needs of conservation of natural values” of the Azores.

“We have the responsibility to protect and promote native forests since they play an essential role in the conservation of biodiversity, oxygen production, climate regulation, soil and water conservation, as well as being a source of natural resources,” he said.