With February being the month of Valentine’s Day, our thoughts often turn to romantic gestures. While a bouquet of roses is a classic token of affection, it eventually fades. Chris and Tricia are offering a way to show love that is truly enduring – a gift for our loved ones’ futures.
Tricia and Chris Wells, who are regular attendees of Luz church, are on a mission! And it’s a mission that’s shared by all church members here at St Vincent’s chaplaincy and across the Diocese of Europe and beyond, because it’s also one of the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ that the Church of England has, and that is to ‘Care for Creation’. As part of that ‘calling’, which they feel they have, the couple has come up with a cunning plan to reforest 16 hectares (forty acres) of land in Pincho in the western Algarve.
They believe that one of the best things anyone can do for the planet is to plant a tree. By donating a tree in someone’s name, you aren’t just giving a gift: you are participating in a legacy of hope. There is a beautiful sentiment that perfectly captures this spirit: “Blessed are those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.”
Why now?
Our planet is in a perilous position due to rising CO2 levels and global warming. In Iberia, we have faced severe droughts over the last five years, which have reduced our ability to fight forest fires and promote soil erosion. Chris and Tricia’s project aims to tackle these issues head-on by:
- Restoring biodiversity: promoting nature conservation and bird life
- Protecting the land: preventing erosion and providing a buffer against fire
- Carbon offsetting: creating a natural forestry area that absorbs CO2
There is an old proverb that says:
“When was the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When is the second-best time to plant a tree? Today.”
The Wells family is taking that ‘today’ seriously.
Over the last three years, they have carried out preliminary work, a biodiversity assessment (Cruzinha A Rocha) and an exploration of optimal tree types, as well as a feasibility study. They have donated their land to the project and have already begun clearing and rotavating, while the first 1,000 seedlings are on order (but not paid for yet, so a few more prayers please!!)
Join the Mission
This is a long-term vision. The goal is to plant 1,000 trees every year for the next eight years, totalling 8,000 trees. This project is carried out in conjunction with A Rocha Portugal, ensuring that every seedling is monitored and the benefits to wildlife are carefully charted.
How you can support this eco-giving
1 tree: 5€
5 trees: 20€
Coppice of 15 trees: 50€
When you gift a tree, the recipient receives an e-card with details, and both you and the recipient will get yearly updates on how your tree – and the forest – is growing.
To purchase a tree, simply scan the QR code found on the church flyers to pay into the St. Vincent’s Anglican Chaplaincy account or visit https://donorbox.org/change-the-world-plant-a-ttree?utm_medium=qrcode&utm_source=qrcode. Afterwards, email tricia.d.wells@gmail.com with the name and email of the recipient so they can receive their e-card.
Let’s help Chris and Tricia to change the world, one tree at a time.
About A Rocha
A Rocha Portugal, and the Catholic, Lusitanian and other Portuguese-speaking churches, have launched an Eco Church project, an embryonic form of Eco-Church UK.
Marcial Felgueiras, the National Director of A Rocha Portugal, has selected the Wells’ Reforestation Project as the first one to be supported! He explains:
“This project has several aims:
Get the churches in Portugal to understand the command to care for the earth as part of their Christian discipleship
Help the churches in Portugal to engage with society in a transformation process which:
- Fosters nature conservation and promotion of biodiversity
- Protects forests from fire and the land from the erosion that always takes place after a fire
- Adapts the land for a climate change scenario, with prolonged dry summers and a shortage of rainfall
Develop a pilot project of a forestation unit, which will demonstrate all the above, and inspire other churches to have hands-on projects honouring God’s name and caring for God’s earth.”
Fr Rob Kean is Chaplain of St Vincent’s Chaplaincy Algarve, Area Dean of Portugal.
+351 964 236 675
WhatsApp: wa.me/351964236675
