Urban agri-forest for children & youth in Portugal

Dear friend!

While we have not managed to secure the funding for this lovely urban agri-forest project and therefore get it officially off the ground, we are investing on growing a green future for the children by investing on their mothers' and their own wellbeing and connection to nature. 

This report is therefore not providing any major events to note or celebrate, but we hope spring 2022 we would have some delightful news to share with you. We are still looking for funding to purchase a small fiorest land where native biodiversity can blossom and which can serve as a practical learning ground for children to gain deeper understanding and practical experience of REAL FOOD and how magically forests can provide food for us all.

I look forward to updating you with more development during our next reporting season,

Have a wonderful autumn,

Kindest regards,
Sari 

Dear Friend,

While we are still waiting to collect the needed funding to purchase the forest land for the project (few proposals submitted - fingers crossed), we continue to seek for opportunities to raise awareness of the dangers of mono-culture forestations. Portugal, like many other countries are using majority of forests lands to plant mono-culture trees (mainly non-native eucalyptus or pine). Why is this so bad? Because they distort natural biodiversity that depends on rich multiculture of plants and animals. Also, these monoculture trees are very invasive and suck all water and nutrition from the ground, dominating all life in these forests. This restricts the living space of many animals and drives species to extinction. The worst part perhaps is, that the monoculture forestation is so widely seen, accepted and hardly questioned by majority of locals, that they are not aware of the fact that these forests are destroying the local biodiversity and future of our children. 

Romi's Way is hoping to team up with forestation experts in Portugal, Europe and USA to jointly raise awareness of the issues of monoculture forestation, and enthusiastically promoting the benefits of restoring native biodiversity. Parts of this effort would be to promote the role of forests as a 'food storage' where organic variety of raw ingredients can be harvested, from berries to mushrooms and plants and herbs. By having active participation of children in the process will ensure they understand the lifecycle of food, and how to plant, harvest and eat the collected food from forests. 

We need your help to join the campaigns (by liking & sharing our postings please) and if you can, by donating toward our efforts to collect funds to purchase the forest land for the pilot Agri-forest project for children. 

Many thanks for reading and for your support - hugely appreciated!

Lovely summer wishes,

Sari Bernardo - CEO, Romi's Way

Dear friend,

Spring is here in Portugal!  What is amazing to realise is how little Nature cares for the COVID or politics or stress that we humans may feel. It offers it glory again after winter hibernation and for those who take their time to walk in forests or Nature elsewhere, will immediately feel the uplifiting and healing powers and ultimately feel a great sense of HOPE inside.

I visited our selected forest land yesterday, again dreaming about the day I will see groups of children visiting the forest. Learnign about native species and the importance of conservation & reforestation in a way that promotes mult-cultural and native biodiversity to bounch back. The image of seeing my own son one day walkign there harvesting food with other children and preparing a meal together is a dream I will hold on to. And those of you who are mothers, can surely agree that the power of mother's dreams is strong. We want the best for our children and we want the world to be rich in biodiversity, intelligently managed through scientific aid and Nature-connection been used side-by-side to ensure there is no imbalance caused by human actions. 

We have just prepared a small request for funding towards this project where we could pilot the agri-forest project with 3 groups of children (once COVID restrictions allow - planning for June). What we need to do now is to try to gather enough funds to purcahse the 1ha forest land identified for this project so that the planting can start and some harvest could be gathered already in September. 

We need to raise 20,000Euros to purchase the land, and your support has been and is crusially important. The work itself we will do volunterily to enjoy the children will have deep and meaningful connectionst to the forests and leave them feeling exhited about the collected & planted 'forest food'.

If you know any individul or entity willing to sponsor towards the goal, now would be a great time to get HOPE for better future back on the menu :) 

With great smile towards the future,

Sari Bernardo -CEO Romi's Way

Happy November!

We do not have much to report, however we are thrilled to notice a perfect land for food-forest-playground has been identified for us, and we are currently seeking for ways to raise funds to secure this. This, as the title suggests, would be a practial learning platform in Nature, but also be a case study and example of agri-forests in Portugal, providigin an access for public to see how native, organically grown forests can provide food for famileis while teaching children through practical experience.

We woudl be delighted to secure this small land and start small activities there already in 2021.

If you can, pleas support our efforts though donations and following us. 

Kind regards,
Romi's Way Team

Time flies - although a bit slower and lower during the COVID19 impacted months. For Romi's Way this has been a quiet time where our team has not been able to bring actions forward for our projects. Only concrete thing to report is the online research done in search for a suitable land for the urban agri-forest in/ nearby Coimbra in Central Portugal and the research and professional knowledge sharing of our agri-forest experts on what to plant and what is the 'ideal land' for the project. 

We are hoping to launch a fundraising campaign and release a concept paper to cover our 3-year plan for the agri-forest during this autumn, and until then the project is having a (productive?) beauty nap. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can shortly return to normality to extend that allows our team (= core team + volunteers) and physically progress with next steps. Knowledge is there and once the access & funds are in place, we are ready to roll on and share the fruits with the rest of the world (well, maybe the actual fruits from the agri-forest are only shared locally).

Thank you for your support so far and thank you for any new donations also. Your support is always welcomed with huge gratitude that extends to your financial contribution but also to your interest to restore balance between people, animals and our beloved Nature. We need people like you.

With kind regards and thanks,
Romi's Way