For the Deputy Mayor, Nuno Piteira Lopes: ‘World Youth Day was undoubtedly a very important milestone for Cascais and, of course, for all the people of Cascais. The collaboration of everyone involved will therefore be essential if we are to achieve our ambition and also that of all those responsible for organising this event in 2023. To be able to make this initiative as sustainable as possible, compensating for its environmental impact and all the investment involved in making it a success in Cascais.’

Planting began in October 2024 and will run until the end of March, focussing on the highest area of the Serra, namely the Peninha area. The municipality says that around 10,000 trees have already been planted, all of them native species.

To carry out the initiative, preparatory work was carried out, including the control of exotic invasive plants, to guarantee the right conditions for the favourable growth of the new trees.

Planting usually happens between November and March, when the land is most favourable to grant good conditions for new trees, depending on the weather conditions. The measure aims to compensate for the ecological footprint left by the event, which took place during Pope Francis' visit to Portugal, by mitigating the impacts of the event's CO2 emissions.