Renature Monchique: GEOTA and Ryanair back 580,000 native trees across 1,850 hectares in the Monchique mountain range

Started in 2019, a project led by the Group for Studies in Spatial Planning and Environment (GEOTA) has already put 580,000 native trees into the ground across 1,850 hectares of the Monchique mountain range, according to Algarve Primeiro. Funding comes via the British airline Ryanair’s carbon offsetting initiative.

Project scale, funding and targets

“Ryanair’s funding has already reached €2.2 million, which is significant, and our goal is to continue. The regeneration processes in these burned areas are interventions on a 20-year scale, and therefore we expect to continue for many more years with this ecological restoration”, says Miguel Jerónimo, the GEOTA project coordinator.

To date, the work has involved support for more than 80 landowners and the planting of 580,000 trees; the team says it is on course to reach 600,000 by next February.

Renature Monchique: linking environmental recovery with social regeneration

Officials explain that a further stage of the Monchique work is that Renature Monchique is intended to do more than repair environmental damage after the 2018 fire, positioning itself as a programme for social and economic regeneration as well. “When we have these fires, it is real people who are affected, and we need to do things differently to avoid future fires that burn 27,000 hectares”, Miguel Jerónimo says.

Partners supporting the Monchique mountain range

The initiative is being delivered with the Monchique City Council, the Algarve Tourism Region, and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF).

A key principle is ensuring local people can see clear economic value, by safeguarding the ecosystem with native species while aligning that commitment with local economic activities connected to the Monchique mountain range.

Local authorities highlight long-term benefits

Paulo Alves, the mayor of Monchique, has underlined the importance of the Renature Monchique project, "which already has a mark on the municipality, due to its territorial expansion, support for property owners, and intervention in abandoned land that has no value." He adds that reforestation with native species such as the Monchique oak and the strawberry tree brings added value for landowners.

André Gomes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA), says the work is centred on restoring the area’s ecology in a way that stays close to landowners. “It is an excellent example that it is indeed possible for us to work together, public and private partners, regional entities, municipalities and companies in an action to regenerate our territory, which is so important in the work we do at the level of Algarve Tourism, from the point of view of diversifying the offer of tourist segments, demonstrating more and more that the Algarve is, in fact, a year-round destination,” André Gomes remarks.