On 31 January, we started the planting of the Living Tours forest. The first step in a Planting and Reforestation Action in the Leiria National Forest. With the participation of 23 Livingtourians, including the CEO, Rui Terroso, together with ZERO - Sustainable Earth System Association.

This activity, which is part of our environmental sustainability programme, will contribute to the recovery of two priority conservation habitats in the Leiria National Forest, a ZERO project that will monitor and report on developments over the next few years.

Pinhal de Leiria gave us a marvellous day as a team, together with the ZERO Association, represented by Inês Pereira.

Activity Description:

• Initially, we were given a short training and orientation course by members of the Zero association on plants and shrubs, as well as planting techniques;

• Afterwards, we were provided with the materials needed for the activity: shovels, gloves, instruments, substrate, chips and species - Samoucos, Medronheiros, Folhados and Sanguinhos;

• We were then divided into groups of 4 and 5;

• In addition, each activity was divided into two rounds, planting 10 plants planted in each round;

• As an organisation, each group followed lines, starting from a stretched rope, which served as a guide for planting.

• Over the course of the morning, our Livingtourianos planted hundreds of trees and shrubs;

• This concluded a very fun activity on a fantastic day with the sea close by.

In the words of Inês Pereira, from the Zero association, the action was a success:

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You really were the liveliest group we've had to date! We planted almost 400 trees and shrubs! Thank you so much!".

It's this kind of testimony that motivates us to be better and to continue our journey of sustainability for our planet.

Our short-term goal will be to plant 3,000 trees, but we have a more ambitious objective: to be the first national tour operator with a zero carbon footprint.

We are doing this in two ways: the first is to gradually replace our fleet with 100 per cent electric vehicles; and the second is to compensate for what we can't eliminate and/or reduce from our carbon footprint by planting trees, so that we can replace the carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere with oxygen.

In order to achieve the goal of reducing our footprint to zero, we have equipped our vehicles with a cartrack system, which monitors the number of kilometres we drive; this way we know how many trees we have to plant in order to replace carbon dioxide with oxygen.

Our cartrack effectively tells us that we need to plant 16,000 trees, so we've started the process of planting the first 3,000 trees, spread over 3 hectares here in the Leiria forest.

Continuing to sustain our lives and our work to the maximum, in order to be the first national tour operator with zero emissions, is fundamental: we only have one planet and, as such, we are going to look after it in order to leave a positive legacy for future generations.

We're all committed to the environment we're part of! So let's get to work and make it happen!

Congratulations to our livingtourianos and the Zero Association!

In the words of our CEO, Rui Terroso, a testimony to our activity: