In a statement, Lisbon City Council explains that the measure is the result of an order signed by the councillor responsible for Structure and Green Plan, Ângelo Pereira, who highlights the “environmental services” that trees provide to the city.

“Under the terms of the Municipal Regulation of Arvoredo de Lisboa, every opportunity must be taken to increase the tree heritage”, indicates the councillor.

The municipality defends in the document that this measure is “particularly important in the context of adaptation to climate change, which we face, and which will predictably bring significant increases in the number and duration of heat waves in cities and changes in the rainfall regime”.

The order signed by the councillor responsible for the Structure and Green Plan, Ângelo Pereira, provides that, “when a tree and/or shrub species are cut down, each felled specimen must be replaced by at least two new specimens, and at least one of these specimens must be planted in the surroundings of the place where the tree was felled”.