Students from local schools, players from Clube Desportivo de Tondela (CDT) and Académico de Viseu, forest rangers, local officials, and representatives from the Football Foundation/Liga Portugal and the Viseu Dão Lafões Intermunicipal Community (CIM) took part in a forest resilience initiative.
The Mayor of Vouzela, Carlos Oliveira, recalled that shortly after the 2017 wildfires, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, visited the site to manually remove eucalyptus plants that had taken over the forest.
“The President was here for a symbolic removal of eucalyptus due to their high density in the area. Today, we’re engaging in a completely different activity: reforesting with native species,” he explained.
Five hundred pedunculate oaks were planted on a section of the over 40-hectare Castle Forest, part of the Natura 2000 network and the Vouga-Caramulo Local Natural Park.
“We want to continue revitalizing to make this low-density area more attractive. We want people to visit and appreciate the forest’s landscape value as a significant asset of our municipality,” stated the mayor.
The choice of species is linked to its resilience: “it takes longer to grow, but it’s much more resistant to wildfires. We had areas of oak and chestnut trees that survived fires and have fully recovered.”
Nuno Martinho, executive secretary of CIM, mentioned this reforestation effort is part of the ongoing European Life Nieblas project.
“We’ve done various plantations of native species with irrigation through fog collectors. We returned about a year and a half ago for that plantation and now again,” he noted.
CDT captain Bebeto was present because he believes solidarity is crucial to achieving goals, both in football and environmental efforts.
“I do my part, my friends do theirs, and together we are stronger. In this setting, it’s vital that everyone unites, everyone plays their role, and everyone benefits,” he told journalists.
Académico de Viseu captain Luís Silva, planting a tree for the first time today, highlighted the importance of clubs participating in such initiatives.
“Académico is more than a football club; it represents a region, and we have a responsibility to be present and help the community,” he said.
Martim Lourenço, a 10th-grade student, recounted the “very tense” moments his family experienced during the 2017 fires.
“We couldn’t sleep due to fear of the fire. My grandmother and uncle had land that was heavily affected. They had to stay at our house to ensure their safety,” he shared with journalists.
Therefore, he wanted to contribute to restoring what the flames had destroyed.
“Nature is one of the most important things because we can’t live without it,” he emphasized.
