The Renature Monchique project, which has already helped 41 landowners on 600 hectares of the mountain to reforest their land with native species, will "continue for another year", as it has secured new support of 250 euros from the its main sponsor, the airline Ryanair.
The revelation was made to the Sul Informação by Miguel Jerónimo, who is the coordinator, on the part of GEOTA – Spatial Planning and Environment Study Group, of this project, which began in May 2019, less than a year after the great fire of 2018.
The project, which aims to ecological restoration in the burned areas of the Serra de Monchique in the 2018 fires, is the result of a partnership between the Algarve Tourism Region, Ryanair, GEOTA – Spatial Planning and Environment Study Group, ICNF – Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation and the Municipality of Monchique.
Ryanair pays for this project and for another (in Uganda, Africa) its passengers' donations to offset the carbon generated by its activity as an air carrier. With this investment of 250 thousand euros, Ryanair will invest a total of 750 euros in the Algarve project.
«We are talking about an investment of around 750 thousand euros in three years, which could be a drop in the ocean of the problem of fires in Portugal, but, at least, we are demonstrating, with partners, the Monchique Chamber, the ICNF and Algarve Tourism, which, when there is a desire, it is possible to do something», underlined Miguel Jerónimo.
«We are not here revolutionizing the Serra de Monchique, we are not saying that there will not be more fires, obviously this is part of the Portuguese landscape, but, if there is will, collaboration and investment, it is possible to do something, it is possible to support the people who are affected by these fires,” added the landscape architect.
So far, in the first two years of the project, it has been possible to intervene in 600 hectares across the mountains, on about «50 to 60» land owned by 41 owners (and their families), Portuguese and foreigners. Nearly 137 thousand native trees have already been planted, and, according to Miguel Jerónimo, «the two most common and most desired species by the owners are the cork oak and the strawberry tree».
«Obviously, we have other species here, such as chestnut, holm oak, ash, alder, Monchique oak, which we try to complement in our intervention». The objective, he explains, “is not to plant monocultures” of a single species, hectares and hectares all the same, a mistake that has fueled fires. “We have to have a direction for something productive, because people have their properties because they need them to survive or else to complement their activity”.
The intervention area of the Renature Monchique Project extends from the Ribeira da Perna da Negra valley to the south of Picota. Therefore, it is a question of “different altitudes, different positions, different types of soil” and even different owners, which means that the success rate of plantations is different, in other words, the survival rate of planted trees. «We must have areas with success rates in the order of 60%, but if there is some support in management by the owners, usually in irrigation, it can reach 90/95%. But we also have cases where we have 5%. There is no single formula here, there is no single reality here, we have several completely different properties, each solution is adapted to the property», he explains.
In terms of the future, what is expected is “a survival rate [of the trees] around 30 to 40%, which is normal”.
In this project, an important aspect is that the owners have to be involved in the ecological restoration of their land. Therefore, what will be done is decided together with the owner, «because he is the one who will “inherit” this intervention, although we support the management of this property as much as possible».
«We try, as much as possible, to involve the owners in the management, because a process of this nature takes at least 10 to 20 years: a cork oak takes 20, 30 years to grow, a strawberry tree after 7, 8 years can already start to give something . Therefore, it is only by involving the owners that we guarantee the success of this project. Hence, being in the third year, we never left anyone behind. That's why we say that we support 41 owners and we continue to do so,” adds the landscape architect, who is the coordinator of the team that is on the ground to implement habitat restoration actions, through the reforestation of burnt territories with native species.
“We always revisit planted areas, and if we have, for example, very high mortality rates, we do replanting. Therefore, this accompaniment always exists, if the owner wants to».
Miguel Jerónimo admits that there are those who are not happy with the way the project works: «we cannot please everyone, we have had owners who have given up. But 95% of people, which is the vast majority, continue and want to continue. I hope we have more resources to do more things!».
To publicize the project and, above all, all the work that has been done on the ground since May 2019, the Municipal Gallery of Santo António, in Monchique, hosts the exhibition «Renature Monchique – Ecological Restoration in the Serra de Monchique», which can be seen until the 22nd of August.
«What people can see here is a kind of our daily life, seeing the process of ecological restoration, getting in contact with the methodology. All in a very simple way, because we tried to use a language accessible to everyone. And then here we have a photographic survey to transport visitors to our daily work, and we have a team that works daily in Monchique, from September to April, every year», explained Miguel Jerónimo.
The exhibition also presents some of the works done by hundreds of school children in the municipality of Monchique, about the recovery of the forest in their mountains.
Rui André, mayor of Monchique who, with the Sul Informação, also accompanied the visit to the exhibition, underscored the importance of the project, not only for the effective work that can already be seen in the field, but also for the example it constitutes. “People can see that here things have gone from words to deeds, that there is work being done on the ground. After all, there are more than 137.000 native trees planted in the areas burned in the 2018 fire! It's no joke. This work does not solve all the problems, but it demonstrates that there are solutions, that there is a way for us to have a different forest here, more resilient and more in line with our climate and our landscape», said the mayor.
For the third phase of the project, guaranteed by the new tranche of 250 euros donated by Ryanair and its passengers, the coordinating team says it intends to «continue to do what we have been doing. Obviously there is an adaptation here, because the natural regeneration is already much greater than it was after the fire. Thus, the preparation of the land is already very different, the issue of natural regeneration is taken into account, to see what already exists or not. So, little by little, this project is becoming more focused on management, rather than replanting itself».
And what is intended now? That landowners in the municipality of Monchique (in the parishes of Monchique and Alferce) that have been affected by the great fire of 2018, contact the project team and show their interest. Contact can be made through the email [email protected] or the telephone 926 623 988.
Meanwhile, points out Miguel Jerónimo, «we already have a campaign in progress, we started it on June 21, a very pragmatic thing in these media, which was printing posters, pamphlets, distributing in mailboxes, placing the posters in cafes, in the petrol stations, with the necessary contacts and a short explanation of what we do».
Taking into account the capacity of the team, this next year, 20 to 25 owners should be added to the project, with "about 18 or 19 interested", says Miguel Jerónimo.
«It's a lot of work that still awaits us», concludes the coordinator of the Renature Monchique Project.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação and João Madeira | Geota
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