PAN – People, Animals and Nature will present a proposal to the Municipal Assembly of Olhão so that “in the coming weeks, trees will begin to be planted in places where they fell or were uprooted by the storm, challenging local authorities to go even further and create a municipal regulation for the management of trees in urban areas».
The proposal will be presented by Alexandre Pereira, PAN municipal deputy in Olhão, following the passage of Storm Bernard through the Algarve, last week.
«If on the one hand it was a relief to finally smell the wet earth, due to the rain that fell in the Algarve these days, on the other hand I noticed that the strong gusts of wind felled hundreds of trees throughout the region, with the most affected being existing trees in urban environments», says Alexandre Pereira.
«In the current scenario of climate change, with the worsening of periods of extreme drought, an increase in heat waves and water scarcity in the region, the conservation, protection and promotion of green spaces in urban environments is essential», he argues.
Trees in urban environments “perform extremely important functions, but which often go unnoticed. It is imperative to implement public policies that contribute to the process of mitigating climate change and, as such, we believe that the time has come to assume the relevant role of trees and shrubs in the processes of absorbing carbon and combating the greenhouse effect».
«In addition, trees are also responsible for regulating urban temperatures, controlling and reducing noise and air pollution, increasing the general well-being of populations and, above all, increasing tolerance and combating floods, floods and extreme phenomena that have been increasingly affecting our region», adds the PAN elected official in Olhão.
«Thus, and considering that this is the best time of year to do so, we will plant trees after the storm and thus promote more sustainable and resilient urban environments in adapting and mitigating climate change, as this will be an inheritance for future generations, so that one day they can sit in the shade of these trees with history», he asks.
Alexandre Pereira recalls that, in 2022, the suggestion of “creating and implementing the Municipal Strategic Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PMAAC) was unanimously approved, also creating a monitoring committee with members/representatives of this AMO, but, until moment, nothing happened».
«In addition to this strategic plan, I argue that the municipality of Olhão should have a complete inventory of urban trees existing in public and private municipal domains and a municipal regulation for the management of trees in urban areas, the preparation of which is the responsibility of the Municipal Council of Olhão. But, once again, to date, no plan has been submitted to the Municipal Assembly for approval», he illustrates.
This diploma “regulates the interventions to be carried out at the tree level, namely pruning, transplants and the criteria applicable to felling and the selection of species to be planted”.
One of the aspects that should be included in these management instruments, for Alexandre Pereira, is the assessment of the phytosanitary status of trees, that is, their state of health, which implies that the management and maintenance of urban trees in public spaces are carried out by technicians duly prepared and accredited for this purpose.
Another mechanism defended by the PAN municipal deputy is the availability of the municipal inventory of trees in urban areas on an online platform, «which will allow citizens to ask questions and report incidents regarding existing tree specimens».
«In this way, the municipality comes under permanent scrutiny and has to justify to its residents the actions it takes in the management and maintenance of green spaces, particularly with regard to pruning, which are in many cases exaggerated» , says Alexandre Pereira.
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