On the warm morning of Friday 5th July, we kicked off the Volunteering Days with the ‘Guardians of Cabeço Santo 2024’. 💮

This initiative has the support of the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth (IPDJ) in the Youth Volunteering for Nature and Forests programme.

We also had the support of the Union of Parishes of Belazaima do Chão, Castanheira do Vouga and Agadão in providing transport. 🤝

This year we're taking a different approach, based on Syntropy, a way of regenerating Nature, which is also Human. That's why we chose the shadow to reflect and intervene. Some of the volunteers had already been last year, so they were surprised by the change in perspective and action, especially when it came to dealing with acacia trees and what we're used to calling ‘dirty’ ground. Most of them already have contact with nature and, for many, this approach is starting to make sense. 😊

We started by creating nests around the small trees and shrubs that had sprouted spontaneously, using the resources available: sticks that were piled up to delimit the nest and to mark the small trees with stakes, and putting organic matter in the middle to protect and enrich the soil. 🌱

We are all learning to look at All Living Beings as an integral part of the Web of Life, of which we are a part.’ ❇️

📷 Fátima Saraiva, Théodora Lopez and Jorge Morais