VINCI Airports has launched two new reforestation projects near Faro Airport in the Algarve and Porto Santo Airport in Madeira.

The new projects were designed with and for their local area created in partnership with regional authorities and forestry experts. They are part of the global reforestation programme that VINCI Airports set in motion last June at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport with the Rhône departmental council and the French National Forest Office (ONF).

Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and chairman of VINCI Airports, said: “VINCI Airports is becoming involved in reforestation in all the geographies where we operate. Forests are not just our allies in efforts to help decarbonise mobility: they are also fantastic reservoirs of biodiversity.

“Protecting fauna and flora goes hand in hand with promoting informed and sustainable tourism, especially in these beautiful parts of Portugal where we are starting our new projects today.”

Around 20 kilometres from Faro Airport, the firm will take part in work to restore Tavira forest, which was damaged by the wildfires in the Algarve last summer. The project will last 30 years, with around 2,500 cork oaks, carobs, holm oaks and junipers set to be planted by the end of 2021.

At Porto Santo, the airport group will take part in the reforestation and upkeep of the island’s woodlands by reintroducing more than 1,000 trees over the next five years. In addition to having a positive effect on biodiversity, this initiative will improve water resource management in what is a fragile environment.