Around 70 employees of consumer credit company Cofidis voluntarily took part in a reforestation initiative to plant hundreds of trees in Monchique. The aim was to breathe new life into an area that was destroyed by last year’s devastating summer wildfire.
The event took place on Friday, October 25 and saw the company’s employees planting around 400 strawberry trees and cork oak trees.
These types of trees were chosen because they are “native species that are essential to the local ecosystem and adapt more easily to the soil conditions and the climate, thus they are less susceptible to diseases, long periods of drought and intense rain,” said Cofidis in a statement to the press.
It also explained that these trees are also “normally more resistant to fires”.
The idea for the reforestation initiative was pitched to Cofidis by the Portuguese Cycling Federation as the company sponsors the Algarve Granfondo Cofidis event.
“As a company, we want to have an active role in decreasing our carbon footprint, which is why contributing towards this initiative is very important to us,” said Sébastien Haquette, General Manager of Cofidis Portugal.
He added: “Seeing how receptive our employees were makes us very proud and motivates us to carry out even more initiatives of corporate volunteer work.”
Photo: Monchique mayor Rui André (centre, front row) with the Cofidis team
