Pro Nativa
Pro Nativa is a rewilding and habitat management business based in Aljezur that restores native forest in south-west Portugal. It removes in…
Rewilding
Rewilding Portugal is restoring wild corridors in the Greater Côa Valley, while smaller projects let nature take the lead on abandoned land. Portugal's emptiness is its opportunity.
Projects in this focus
Awakened Forest Project
Awakened Forest Project is a reforestation and landscape restoration initiative in the Serra do Açor, working to transform former pine monoc…
Faixas Vivas
Faixas Vivas is a Portuguese movement of NGOs, companies and citizens pushing to reform fire-prevention rules so they preserve native vegeta…
ICNF - Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas
ICNF is the Portuguese public institute responsible for nature conservation and forest management, including the national network of protect…
Milvoz – Associação de Proteção e Conservação da Natureza
Milvoz is a nature conservation association based in Coimbra that manages a network of Bio-Reservas protecting native forest and biodiversit…
Parque Biológico de Gaia
Parque Biológico de Gaia is a permanent environmental education centre in Avintes, Vila Nova de Gaia, built around former farms and a 3-kilo…
IFCN – Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza, IP-RAM
IFCN is the public institute responsible for forest management and nature conservation in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. It runs a wildli…
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian – Nature and Biodiversity Protection Programme
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Nature and Biodiversity Protection Programme provides core funding to eight environmental NGOs across P…
SPEA – Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves
SPEA is a Portuguese non-profit environmental NGO, founded in 1993 and affiliated with BirdLife International, dedicated to the study and co…
Quinta do Despertar Arcaico
Quinta do Despertar Arcaico is a certified permaculture farm and reforestation project nestled in a valley between the Algarve and Alentejo,…
ANP | WWF – Associação Natureza Portugal
ANP | WWF is a Portuguese environmental NGO working in association with WWF to conserve nature, restore ecosystems and influence environment…
ConnectNatura
ConnectNatura is a bird conservation project run by Palombar that protects necrophagous species such as vultures and eagles by improving hab…
TAGIS – Centro de Conservação das Borboletas de Portugal
TAGIS is a Portuguese non-profit association working on the scientific study and conservation of butterflies and other insects. It runs nati…
Mediterranean Gardening Association Portugal (MGAP)
MGAP is a not-for-profit educational association that works to promote Mediterranean gardening, drought-resilient landscaping and the conser…
Reserva do Vale Velho
On a 100-hectare former farm in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, Reserva do Vale Velho combines organic farming, rewilding and archaeology…
LPN – Liga para a Protecção da Natureza
LPN – Liga para a Protecção da Natureza is the oldest environmental NGO in the Iberian Peninsula, founded in 1948, dedicated to nature conse…
Broto de bambu
Broto de Bambu is a specialised bamboo nursery and education centre at Bambuparque, Herdade da Fonte, in Alentejo. It's recognised as Europe…
Grupo Lobo
Grupo Lobo is a Portuguese association that has worked to conserve the Iberian wolf since 1985. It combines scientific research, environment…
Tapada Nacional de Mafra
A historic walled forest in Mafra used for biodiversity conservation, research and public nature activities. It is part of the Real Edifício…
RWSW Rewilding Sudoeste
RWSW Rewilding Sudoeste is a non-profit association founded in 2021 and based in Aljezur. It works to protect and develop native forests and…
Veredas da Estrela
Veredas da Estrela is a community association founded after the 2022 wildfires destroyed 25% of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park. It works …
Regen Waves
Regen Waves is a non-profit movement working to regenerate the Arrábida bioregion through native “superforests”, community-led Regen Walks a…
Mud Valley Institute
Mud Valley Institute is a nonprofit near Lagos that uses regenerative education and action to combat desertification and restore ecosystems …
AIMM – Marine Environment Research Association
AIMM is a Portuguese not-for-profit NGO, founded in 2010 and based in the Algarve, that researches and conserves marine species and ecosyste…
Plantar uma Árvore
Plantar uma Árvore is a Portuguese environmental NGO that conserves native forest and restores habitats through volunteer tree planting and …
GEOTA
GEOTA (Grupo de Estudos de Ordenamento do Território e Ambiente) is a national non-profit environmental NGO, active since 1981, working on e…
Associação Vita Nativa
Associação Vita Nativa is a Portuguese non-profit founded in 2018 in the Ria Formosa area. It works on environmental conservation through re…
VERDE - Associação para a Conservação Integrada da Natureza
VERDE is a nature conservation association in Lousada, Portugal. It protects old-growth trees, supports biodiversity and offers carbon offse…
EcoAtivo
EcoAtivo is a nature protection and conservation association in Fundão that works to improve the relationship between people and the environ…
Associação Cabeço Santo
Associação Cabeço Santo is a Portuguese environmental NGO working to restore degraded landscapes on the western slopes of the Serra do Caram…
Faia Brava – Associação de Conservação da Natureza
Faia Brava - Associação de Conservação da Natureza is a Portuguese environmental NGO with more than 25 years of history, and a pioneer in th…
Wild Forest Garden
A registered NGO in southern Alentejo, Wild Forest Garden creates biodiverse forest gardens using syntropic agriculture and no-dig methods, …
Ria Formosa Wetland Protection
The Ria Formosa Natural Park is a protected coastal wetland running 60 km along the Algarve, with wildlife that includes flamingos, seahorse…
MONTIS – Associação de Conservação da Natureza
MONTIS is a Portuguese environmental NGO founded in 2014 and based in Vouzela, Viseu. It manages 313 hectares across 38 properties in centra…
Associação ALMARGEM
ALMARGEM is a non-governmental, non-profit environmental association dedicated to defending the natural, historical, and cultural heritage o…
RIAS/ALDEIA
RIAS/ALDEIA is a wildlife recovery and research centre at Quinta de Marim in Olhão, within the Ria Formosa Natural Park, which rescues and r…
Reflorestar Portugal
A non-profit NGO working on ecological regeneration, biodiverse reforestation and agroforestry across Portugal, helping communities restore …
Terra Agora
Fundação Terra Agora is a Portuguese public-interest foundation working on a land stewardship model in which donated land is permanently pro…
Biggest Mini Forest
Biggest Mini Forest is a Portuguese movement that has helped plant over 85 mini food forests across Portugal, Spain, and Ecuador since 2023,…
Eternal Forest
Eternal Forest is a long-term art and ecology project founded in 2018 by artist and poet Evgenia Emets, working towards a global network of …
Rewilding Portugal
Rewilding Portugal is a non-profit association working to make Portugal a wilder place by restoring ecosystems and wildlife corridors, with …
Rewilding in Portugal
Rewilding starts from a fact most countries do not have: the Portuguese interior is emptying. Villages that held hundreds now hold dozens, and the fields around them are going back to scrub on their own. Rewilding is the decision to steer that instead of fighting it, restoring grazing herbivores, water and connectivity, then stepping back.
Rewilding Portugal works in the Greater Côa Valley, building a wildlife corridor between the Malcata range and the Douro. Smaller projects do the same thing on a single abandoned property.
Wolf, Iberian lynx, vulture and wild horse all figure in this work, which makes it slow and politically delicate, most of the land is private and grazed. Several organisations take volunteers and run field visits. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar. Related focuses: habitat restoration, land stewardship and tree planting.