Since 2019, when our founder Ösel planted the seed for what would become the Global Tree Initiative (GTI), our team has grown and expanded to 20 different countries!

GTI was formally launched in Portugal in June 2021. Today, the Portuguese volunteer team is made up of eight young, hardworking, and inspiring people. Most team members have studied an array of fields within environmental sciences – biology, nature conservation, environmental education, forestry, etc. They argue that environmental education in Portugal deserves far more attention than what it currently gets.

To date, GTI Portugal focused on creating and sharing educational content on social media. They state that good quality and accessible information, especially concerning the plant kingdom, is challenging to find. As the Portuguese team has shared in one of their posts, it is much easier to establish an emotional connection with an animal than with any plant.

GTI Portugal’s mission is, therefore, to make people fall in love with the amazing complexity of the plant kingdom so that together we can live in harmony with it.

Team Portugal shares that “in the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught” (Baba Dioum).

GTI Portugal is now working on their first partnerships. They will work hands-on with young students in a classroom environment. Or, they may even create an outdoor classroom! Stay tuned to our newsletters to find out what happens.

Thank you, GTI Portugal! Thank you to Afonso Dinis, Bárbara Pedro, Beatriz Dinis, Inês Chaby, Kika Gusmão, Madalena Lopes, Tiago Carrilho, and Tiago Jesus – the faces behind every post on GTI Portugal social media.

You can follow them on Instagram (@projetoglobaldaarvore) and on Facebook (Projeto Global da Árvore).

Have you seen the Portuguese version of our tree-planting guide? Download it here!

Five of the team members, from left to right: Tiago Jesus, Inês Chaby, Tiago Carrilho, Afonso Dinis, and Kika Gusmão.