“Ola, my name is Lena, I’m 26 years old and I’m from France. I joined plantar uma arvore for some voluntary work up in Serra do alvao for 2 months from august to October. Since I joined during maintenance season, our goal was to take care of the trees that had been planted by previous volunteers and to control invasive species such as mimosa trees for example. I really enjoyed the work as it was outdoors, and It was very interesting to see first-hand applications of how to control invasive species in the field after having studied ecology. Plus, thanks to the field trips to Pico island and mata do bussaco we were able to learn about very different ecosystems and be able to enjoy plenty of different landscapes each with their own association of species. We saw many rare endemic species in Pico and fascinating century-old trees in Bussaco which were really wonderful sights. But the best for me was the people I met. Coming from all over the world, the other volunteers were interesting to talk to and fun to live with and I’m glad I got to meet them! Also, the coordinator is very skilled at making you feel right at home and I’m so glad I got to be a part of his team. I am really grateful I got this opportunity to work for plantar uma arvore and the environment, it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.”