“I really think that the archipelago of Madeira as a whole could be, in an innovative way, the biocultural heritage of humanity,” is what Professor Helena Freitas defended at the ‘Ecological Science and the Future of Agri-Food Systems Event.’
Her words were issued as a challenge to Madeira, asking it to wake up and re-functionalise the articulation between the levadas and the Laurissilva Forest, “which should have been done,” as well as in terms of the hydraulic system and climate prevention in the reconciliation between the forest and agriculture.
In the case of Porto Santo, the idea was the same, and the “levadas of the golden island could be the basis of a reforestation project that Porto Santo needs.”
Helena Freitas is convinced that “the two islands could be, in fact, and not forgetting the Desertas, a biocultural heritage of humanity. It would be a truly unique and innovative thing in which we recognise our legacy,” she said. In global terms, another issue that urgently needs to be seen by Helena Freitas is the transition from more intensive production to more environmentally friendly production.
“Our sustainability agenda has to be unique. We all have to make the ecological transition and, therefore, this is a process that science will help, innovation will help and people will also be agents of this change,” she acknowledged.
Coordinator of a European project in agroecology in the control of weed species, the professor also lamented the “excessive” and “increasing” use of chemical agents for production, arguing that it is possible to do it without. “What we are putting on the plant, we are also eating,” she concluded.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
