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Mariana Vasconcelos

Plantar o Futuro

Make this idea grow

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Small actions, big impacts

Plantar o Futuro is based on the idea that small actions can have a big impact and that if every one of us plants a tree, one day we will have a forest. We challenge the University of Aveiro’s students, teachers and staff to adopt a native tree, care for it and, finally, plant it and help to raise a forest!

Organised by Agora Aveiro, in collaboration with the University of Aveiro and the Municipality of Estarreja, Plantar o Futuro represents a movement for the defence and promotion of the native forest and its value in climate change mitigation, forest fire resilience and biodiversity conservation.

8

Years of history

6000+

Planted trees

690+

Volunteers

3900+

Adopters

How was the project born?

This project is the expansion of “Biologia a Plantar o Futuro”, an initiative born out of the determination of the University of Aveiro's biology students, back in 2014.

In 2018, the project becomes “Plantar o Futuro” and reaches the University of Aveiro’s entire academic community. In December of that year, the students, staff and teachers adopted oaks, hollies, alders, and other native trees, cared for them for 2 months, and, with the arrival of Spring, had the opportunity to plant them with the future in mind.

Through the project, thousands of trees have been planted in Mata Nacional do Buçaco and in the Municipalities of Albergaria-a-Velha, Lousada and Estarreja, contributing to awareness raising and environmental education of hundreds of university students.

How do we plant the future?

 
 
 
 
 
May - July
1st stage
Where everything begins

We buy baby native trees from a certified local grower. These are transplanted into larger pots to allow them to grow and develop.

Avanca, Estarreja, Aveiro
July - October
2nd stage
Maintenance

The trees are watered and maintained by Municipality of Estarreja’s technical team, in their greenhouses, until the adoption stage. Occasionally, small weeds that tend to grow in the pots are also removed.

Avanca, Estarreja, Aveiro
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
October
3rd stage
Adoption

We hand over the trees to the care of the students, teachers and staff of University of Aveiro, so that they can be looked after over the following months.

University of Aveiro, Aveiro
October - February
4th stage
Taking care of the trees

During this stage, adopters take care of their small trees. We provide a Support Line, along with the Plant the Future Guide, to clarify any doubts and questions that may arise.

Your home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
February - March
5th stage
Let’s plant the future!

All adopters are called back into action to take part in the reforestation, invasive plant control actions and interpretative visits.

Estarreja, Aveiro
March - (...)
6th stage
Make it grow

Once planted, the trees are entrusted to the care of the Municipality of Estarreja’s technical team to make them grow and create a forest.

Estarreja, Aveiro
 
 
 
 
 

“If each one of us plants a tree, one day we will have a forest„

Know more about the native forest

Throughout the several editions of Plantar o Futuro, we have developed a set of guides with information on how to take care of our trees. These guides, made with the scientific support of the University of Aveiro’s Biology Department, contain information about the native species used in the project, as well on invasive species and the Portuguese Forest as a whole. Here you can access the various editions of this guide.

What we did

We have planted more than 6000 native trees over the project’s 8 years of history. On the map you can find the location of trees planted since the 2nd edition. Click on the respective edition to make them appear!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Plantar o Futuro is a project organised by Association Agora Aveiro for the defence and promotion of the native forest and its value in climate change mitigation, forest fire resilience and biodiversity conservation. It’s done in collaboration with the University of Aveiro and the Municipality of Estarreja.

Plantar o Futuro is open to the participation of the entire academic community of the University of Aveiro. Students, teachers and staff members can participate.

You can participate in the project by adopting a native tree and taking care of it until its plantation. All you need to do is pre-register on this website and, on the delivery day, present your student card, or equivalent document, to receive your tree.

Tree adoption will take place on October 4th, 2023, Wednesday. It will take place near the Rectory Central Building, between 1:30 PM and 4:30 PM.

No, given the logistics involved in this kind of event, it is only possible for us to have one adoption event. However, you can ask a friend to receive the tree for you. He/she should provide your name (first and last), student number and e-mail address.

Plantar o Futuro is a project for all students, faculty and staff of the University of Aveiro. To encourage the participation of as many people as possible, each participant can only adopt one tree.

Yes, but we ask you to bring the tree you have from the last edition. It needs to be planted urgently.

No. The tree you adopt, along with all the others, will help in the recovery of the native Portuguese forest. To do this, it needs to be correctly planted in a suitable place and with a proper monitoring that guarantees its growth and development.

Don’t worry! To answer all your questions we have created an informative guide - Guia Plantar o Futuro. Besides information regarding your tree water and light needs, it has a collection of facts about the Portuguese forest, invasive species and much more. If you have any questions or doubts, you can reach our Helpline via email plantarofuturo@agoraaveiro.org, providing your tree number (you can found it in the tree pot).

A tree can be sick due to a variety of factors, from fungi to problems with light and watering, among others. For this reason, our guide has some tips to help you identify the problem. Also bear in mind that some of the trees are deciduous, so it is normal for them to lose their leaves during the autumn and winter seasons. If you still have doubts, you can contact our team via email plantarofuturo@agoraaveiro.org.

Unfortunately, some trees may die. However, the pot and substrate can be used, so their return is always necessary. Contact our team via email plantarofuturo@agoraaveiro.org to schedule its return.

The reforestation actions will take place on March 9 and April 6, 2024, in Estarreja. We will depart from the University of Aveiro at 9:00 AM and return at 6:00 PM.

These plantations are made in areas of ecological importance, together with the Agora Aveiro and Municipality of Estarreja teams. On this day you will learn how to correctly plant a tree and participate in an Invasive Plant Control Action, helping in the recovery of the local forest. You will also take part in an Interpretive Visit, an opportunity to better understand how your tree will contribute to the local ecosystem and community.

The reforestation actions are free of charge and are open to the participation of the Plantar o Futuro participants, that is, the students, teachers and staff members registered in “Plantar o Futuro” who have adopted a tree.

To participate you only need to register on the form that will be sent to the e-mail address you provided when you registered for the project. If you have not received the invitation, please contact us via email plantarofuturo@agoraaveiro.org.

In that case, your tree and pot will have to be returned to our team on February 21 or 28, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, at the back of the UA Pedagogical Complex. If you are unable to return the tree, you can ask someone to do it for you. If such is still not possible, you should contact us via email plantarofuturo@agoraaveiro.org to schedule the tree return.

We will provide a bus to transport participants from the University of Aveiro Rectory Building to the plantation site and from there back to the University.

The organisation provides a bus in order to minimise the iniciative’s environmental impact. However, if you wish to use your own car or alternative means of transportation, we ask you to arrive at the location at the scheduled time and contact our team to register your presence and tree.

The reforestation actions are meant for those participating in Plantar o Futuro. Due to the limitation imposed by the number of seats on the bus, if you wish to bring a family member or friend, we ask you to use your own car or alternative means of transportation.

Cancellation or rescheduling can be done up to 72 hours before the plantation in order to make your seat available to another participant. In case of rescheduling for another plantation, this will depend on the available vacancies. For this reason we ask you to be sure of your availability when you register. Rescheduling or cancellation has to be done via email plantarofuturo@agoraaveiro.org.

Yes, upon boarding the bus, our team will register the participants and trees present. You must inform our team that, in addition to your tree, you are bringing another participant's tree with you.

Our partners

The project unites the efforts of various stakeholders in society, among associations, public entities and companies, to raise awareness to the importance of native forests. We instil in the participants a sense of social and environmental responsibility and encourage volunteering as a way to exercise an active and participatory citizenship.
Do you want to be our partner? Contact us!

Organizer:

Co-organizers:

Main Partner:

Golden Partners:

Silver Partners:

Partners:

Support:

Testimonies

Read the opinion of those who have already participated in this project!

Júlio Gonçalves

In a world with so many environmental problems and, more precisely, in a country where almost half of the territory is made up of eucalyptus and pine trees, projects like Plantar o Futuro allow us to restore our forest. I got to know this project in its first edition and with it I learned a lot about various trees in our region and its importance in our history. In addition, taking care of one is a task that incites responsibility and planting it is a rewarding experience.

Maria Bartolomeu

In the last edition of Plantar o Futuro, I chose an ash tree still very small and with few leaves. I took care of it, knowing that it would later be transplanted in a forest environment. Now, "my" ash tree will be bigger and, together with all the other trees, it is playing its role in the construction of an autochthonous forest and in the conservation of biodiversity.

João Ferrão

Few believe that it is possible to change the world, so that day, I woke up early and went to show that the change to a better world depends on each of us. I decided to “Plant the Future” with an alder. With a group of Agora Aveiro members predestined to help, picking up a hoe and digging the future makes this utopia easy and fun.

Inês Tocha

The opportunity to adopt a tree native to Portugal and to watch its development makes Plantar o Futuro an enriching project. I believe that reforestation and invasive control actions are the most instructive aspects of this initiative, due to the educational background acquired. The conviviality, the guided tour and the absence of costs make the project even more engaging.

Vanessa Ferreira

I started participating in this project at its inception in 2014, it was my first year at the University of Aveiro. There I adopted an oak tree and took care of it in a reused milk carton until it was planted. It was an incredible experience! The whole concept of this initiative is to give a little bit of each of us to help our forests. Since then, I have continuously participated and will continue to do so. After all, a contribution today is a step towards growing something bigger in the future, one tree at a time.