Taking place in more than 200 locations throughout Europe, this campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of trees, especially large ones. The labels contain information about the benefits to the environment of each species, such as the amount of oxygen the tree provides or the amount of rainwater the tree retains. The larger the tree’s canopy, the greater the impact on the environment.

In the city of Loulé, these trees are part of the following streets: Avenida José da Costa Mealha; Praça da República; Rua Francisca de Aragão; Rua de Nossa Senhora da Fátima; Rua Manuel Bexiga Peres; Rua Manuel da Luz Afonso; Rua Ilda Stichini; Avenida Joaquim Magalhães; Praceta Estanco Louro; Rua Garcia Domingues; Rua do Serradinho; Rua Homens do Andor; Travessa Amorim Benevides and Rua Marçal Aboim.

The European campaign to value trees involves the collaboration of nine organisations from all over the continent and, in Portugal, is being implemented by Professor Baeta Neves from the Centre for Applied Ecology at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia. The #EUTreeTag campaign aims to draw the attention of as many people as possible to the added value of trees.

In Portugal, 100 trees will be tagged in the municipalities of Lisbon, Almada, Cascais, Coimbra, Loulé, Vila Real and Santa Maria da Feira, which have joined the campaign.

“Trees are essential for villages and cities”, Mark Rotteveel, Livable City Ambassador for the Pius Floris Boomverzorging organisation, stressed. “Issues such as climate change and health are indicators that we need to take much more care with the trees that exist today. We often walk past large trees without thinking, simply because they have always been there. The significance of trees for us is not really visible either. We usually only realise the value of a tree once it has disappeared. Then, it suddenly gets hotter in the street or we have a flood due to heavy rain. By placing the TreeTags, we make these benefits visible while the tree still exists. After all, a tree has more than 20 functions!”, he added.

Twenty trees were selected for this year’s campaign, as they are of great value to the community today and in the future.

“We want to see this type of tree in many more places, but sometimes we have to make difficult choices and accept the consequences. Less light for solar panels, less space for parking spaces…It’s not always possible to have everything at the same time. However, we shouldn’t underestimate how much trees can contribute to a pleasant and healthy living environment. And it’s good that we continue to discuss this issue in our municipalities”, the organisers emphasised.

Since this is also a campaign for all residents, those interested can support this initiative and any of the labelled trees by photographing them with the TreeTag and posting them on social media with the hashtag #EUTreeTag. The aim is also to make people think: “But I have valuable trees in my street too!”

You can register your favourite tree for a TreeTag at www.treetags.eu and it can be integrated into future campaigns.

The #EUTreeTag project is an initiative of nine leading organisations in the field of tree research and promotion from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.

The organisations have a common mission: to demonstrate the added value of trees and to raise awareness of the importance of trees. With special software, including the i-Tree programme, they quantify the financial and social value that a specific specimen or group of trees provides to its environment. This provides unique data for policy-makers and those responsible for green spaces to manage the services provided by urban trees even better.