Last updated: October 2021
The FUTURE - a project of 100,000 trees in the Porto Metropolitan Area - is a planned and coordinated effort of various organizations and citizens to create and maintain native urban forests in this region, which needs to enrich its biodiversity, sequester carbon, improve quality of air, protect their soil and contribute to a better quality of life for regional people. The 100,000 Trees Project for the Porto Metropolitan Area” intends to restore 100 hectares of urban forest with native trees. (1, 2)
Tree Planting for the Project (2015)
CRE.Porto, retrieved 08/29/2018 from Marta Pinto
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
- Green corridors and green belts
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Green space creation and/or management
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Environmental education
- Social cohesion
- Social interaction
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Enabling physical activity
- Creation of opportunities for relaxation and recreation
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Protection of natural ecosystems, Knowledge creation and awareness raising
Project objectives
1. Create and manage a flagship project to reforest the region with native species;
2. Help manage urban forests with the goal of making a difference in the territory;
3. Create training and action opportunities for citizens with the goal of having a positive impact on people’s awareness and practical knowledge about trees and woodlands;
4. Structure a volunteer program for reforestation and management tasks with a goal of contributing to social change and promoting public participation.
5. Also, urban forests filter air, water and sunlight, moderate harsh local climates, cooling the air and slowing wind and
stormwater runoff, reduce the urban heat island effect and air pollution, act as carbon sink against climate change, provide recreational opportunities, improve wildlife habitat and biodiversity and create other countless health, social and economic benefits (2)
Implementation activities
By June 2011, after several meeting rounds, the project was able to bring together the basic resources needed for the startup phase: (1) eight planting areas (public and private; in mountain, urban, and riverside areas) totaling around 40 hectares, (2) human resources for planting and management (these forest management teams resulted from the cooperation between landowners associations, the central government and municipalities), (3) indigenous tree seedlings (from state nurseries, through a partnership with a non-governmental organization), and (4) a growing goodwill movement to help with the planting and management (NGO, schools, companies and organizations with social responsibility departments). The main implementation phase of the 100.000 trees project started in September (training) and October 2011 (planting) (2)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
- Create or improve outdoor spaces to help people escape from urban heat
Climate change mitigation:
- Increase green urban nature for carbon storage (wetlands, tree cover)
- Improve carbon sequestration through selection of more adaptable species
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
- Means for conservation governance
- Raise public awareness
- Public engagement
- Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation
- Capacity building
Biodiversity restoration:
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Restore native species
- Public engagement
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Non-government organisation/Civil Society
- Researchers/University
- Citizens or community groups
- Young people and children
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Regional government
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Dissemination of information and education
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The FUTURO is an initiative of CRE.Porto (Regional Center for Excellence in Education for the Sustainable Development of the Porto Metropolitan Area), coordinated by the Porto Metropolitan Area and the Portuguese Catholic University (Porto). Several public and private entities actively participate in the FUTURE, offering institutional support and material and human resources to the project. There are two main panels working within RCE Porto. The first is a forum for representation of local and regional stakeholders and its main functions are to help outline joint actions and to make a contribution to their implementation. The second key panel is the Coordinating Office which is the engine of RCE Porto. It is committed to making things happen, to prompt collaboration, to managing joint projects, to identifying and preparing funding applications, and to organising meetings between partners. (1, 2)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(This NBS mentions the connection with The Strategic Environmental Plan of the Metropolitan Area of Porto that points out the need to promote the forest. (Plano Estratégico de Ambiente da Área Metropolitana do Porto (2003-2008).(1) )
Financing
Total cost
€100,000 - €500,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public regional budget
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Direct funding or subsidy
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
- Private sector (businesses, financial institution)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate, energy and emissions
- Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Environmental quality
- Improved air quality
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Reduced biodiversity loss
Economic impacts
- More sustainable tourism
- Generation of income from NBS
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Fair distribution of social, environmental and economic benefits of the NBS project
- Improved access to urban green space
- Increased opportunities for social interaction
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Protection of natural heritage
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
References
1. 100milarvores (no date), Futuro, o projecto das 100,000 arvores,(website of the intervention), Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
2. United Nations Climate Change (no date), The 100,000 Trees Project - Portugal, Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
3. Pinto, M. et al (2016), Urban Forest Governance: FUTURE—The 100,000 Trees Project in the Porto Metropolitan Area, Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
4. Grupo de Estudos Ambientais | Universidade Católica Portuguesa (2016), Balanço 2011-2016, Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
5. Grupo de Estudos Ambientais | Universidade Católica Portuguesa (2016), Monitoring results, Monitorização , Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
6.Projeto 100 mil arvores (2018), 8 years and 100,000 native trees after, Available at Source link, (Accessed 31-7-2020)
2. United Nations Climate Change (no date), The 100,000 Trees Project - Portugal, Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
3. Pinto, M. et al (2016), Urban Forest Governance: FUTURE—The 100,000 Trees Project in the Porto Metropolitan Area, Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
4. Grupo de Estudos Ambientais | Universidade Católica Portuguesa (2016), Balanço 2011-2016, Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
5. Grupo de Estudos Ambientais | Universidade Católica Portuguesa (2016), Monitoring results, Monitorização , Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020)
6.Projeto 100 mil arvores (2018), 8 years and 100,000 native trees after, Available at Source link, (Accessed 31-7-2020)
Tree Planting for the Project (2015)
CRE.Porto, retrieved 08/29/2018 from Marta Pinto