“There is an Olive Tree Route that is recognised by the Council of Europe and this route involves several countries. Portugal barely appears on this route”, the national coordinator of the ‘Olive4All’ project, Francisco Dias, told Lusa agency.

According to Francisco Dias, “national entities can be effective members of the route or include points of interest on the route”.

“What remains to be done is just an effort of will, the fulfilment of some requirements and some minimal bureaucratic formality, and we will easily have dozens of entities from the north to the south of Portugal joining the Council of Europe Route”, he assured.

The professor at the Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, in Peniche, at the Polytechnic of Leiria, explained that with the participation that the celebration of World Olive Tree Day registered this year and in the past “it means that there are living forces in society that want do something to value this heritage and associate it with tourism”.

However, Francisco Dias highlighted that the added value of this heritage “is not just its tourist potential”.

For the researcher, looking “at the olive growing universe only from the perspective of agricultural production, olive oil production” will destroy, for example, “the ecological value of the diversity of olive trees”, which have hundreds of varieties, in addition to “the inactive heritage and all the history and value associated with this ancient production disappears”.

“It’s not just tourism, it’s also the preservation of culture”, he argued, also referring to the impacts on nature preservation or the reduction in olive oil imports.

The project “Olive4All – Olive Tree Heritage for Sustainable Development: Raising Community Awareness for Living Heritage” won the European competition “Cultural Heritage, Identities and Perspectives: Responding to Changing Societies”.

It is also led by the University of Avignon (France) and the University of Thessaloniki (Greece).

Researchers from the three countries received funding of 550 thousand euros to study and promote olive heritage, in a project that began in 2021 and ends in May 2025.

According to the website patrimoniocultural.gov.pt, “currently, the Council of Europe's Cultural Itineraries program has 48 certified itineraries across the continent”.

“In Portugal, 20 cultural itineraries from the Council of Europe are certified”, and the Olive Tree Route “preserves and energizes the civilizational experience closely related to this tree and its products, the agricultural culture associated with it, and the traditions that involve the entire olive production”.