30 17 Learning for Conserva tion and Revi talisation of Natural and Cultural Resources Background The Porto Metropolitan Area (PMA) is a 1.575 square km territory in northern Portugal. About 16% of the Portuguese population lives in the area (1.67 million people) (INE, 2011). The area is structured around the municipality of Porto with 15 other municipalities included both in the PMA territory and the political and administrative body: Arouca, Espinho, Gondomar, Maia, Matosinhos, Oliveira de Azeméis, Póvoa de Varzim, S. João da Madeira, Santa Maria da Feira, Santo Tirso, Trofa, Vale de Cambra, Valongo, Vila do Conde, Vila Nova de Gaia. The Porto Metropolitan Area Environmental Strategic Plan (PMA-ESP), a broad participatory regional planning process conducted from 2003 to 2008, concluded that citizens, decision-makers, researchers, experts and government staff consider forest ecosystem management a major environmental challenge in the region, to a large extent because of forest fires. It also identified the need to improve riverside areas and enhance the natural corridors effect. Education and training for sustainability as well as the need for more and better inter-municipality cooperation also came up as a priority issue (GEA, 2006; GEA, 2008). The PMA-ESP integrates the contributions of more than 5,000 citizens and 200 organisations and represents a shared view of the environmental challenges and solutions for the region. In 2010, RCE Porto’s Executive Board decided that in 2011, which was the International Year of Forests and European Year of Volunteering, members should collaboratively: create and manage a flagship project to reforest the region with native species; help manage urban forests with goal of making a difference in the territory; create training and action opportunities for citizens with a goal of having a positive impact in people’s awareness and practical knowledge about trees and woodlands; and structure a volunteer programme for reforestation and management tasks with a goal of contributing to social change and promoting public participation. This meeting was seed for the FUTURE – the 100,000 trees project. Why did RCE Porto Embrace the Native Woodlands Challenge? As reported by the PMA-ESP and reaffirmed later (AFN, 2010), the PMA territory is a jigsaw puzzle of urban, agricultural and forest areas. Roughly 41% of the land has forest cover. However, native trees species (Quercus sp., Castanea sp., Ilex sp., Fraxinus sp. Alnus sp., Laurus sp., Salix sp., etc.) cover less than 6% of forested territory, which is dominated by extensive monocultures of Pinus pinaster and Eucalyptus sp. (representing a higher risk of fire and pest expansion, as well as biodiversity loss). In addition, the loss of forest and agricultural land to urban expansion is a constant. From 1991 to 2008 urban development spread at a rate of 1,8 hectares per day (GEA, 2006; GEA, 2008). This trend in forest loss to urban expansion matches the reality in other parts of Europe as reported by Konijnendijk (2003). Urban forests refer to all forest and tree resources in and around urban areas, including woodlands, parks, trees and other green areas (Konijnendijk, 2003). These urban forests, particularly when based in native species – which are suited to the local environment – are extremely important as they provide multiple and highly demanding goods and services to society. In fact, a recent report (Vibrant Cities and Urban Forests Task Force, 2011) describes how the urban forest, working as green infrastructure, plays multiple roles in the ecology of human habitats: they filter air, water and sunlight, moderate harsh local climates, cooling the air and slowing wind and storm water 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. Konijnendijk (2003) and Dwyer et al (1992) also detail these benefits and consider that the social and ecological stability of urban ecosystems can be enhanced by urban forests. Increasing resilience, reducing vulnerability, restoring natural capital and improving social well-being are some of the competences attributed to urban forests as central green infrastructures in Europe (Dige, 2011). The importance of forests was recently acknowledged by the United Nations General Assembly. It proclaimed 2011 as the International Year of Forests, inviting governments and the UN system, major groups and other forest-related organisations, to come together and raise awareness on strengthening the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. 2
Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity
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