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…
Habitat Restoration
The heart of the ecosystems collection: MONTIS restoring native woodland near Vouzela, Rewilding Portugal in the Greater Côa Valley, and the Miyawaki mini-forests of Ilhas de Biodiversidade. Giving degraded and abandoned land a second life.
Projects in this focus
IPR — Instituto de Planeamento Regenerativo
IPR — Instituto de Planeamento Regenerativo is a Southern Portugal-based technical organisation that designs and implements regenerative ter…
Reservas da Biosfera de Portugal
Reservas da Biosfera de Portugal is a digital territorial platform that showcases Portugal's 13 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, promoting their n…
Movimento ALP — Ajude a Limpar a Praia
Movimento ALP is a registered national initiative dedicated to environmental volunteering since 2011, organising community beach clean-ups a…
MARE-Madeira (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre)
MARE-Madeira is the Madeira pole of the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, dedicated to research on marine biodiversity and environme…
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…
Sciaena
Sciaena is a Portuguese NGO founded in 2006 dedicated to marine conservation, sustainable fisheries and public awareness of ocean issues. It…
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…
Floradata
Floradata is a Porto-based environmental consultancy specialising in biodiversity, ecology, landscape, forestry and risk management, with 15…
Bee Serra da Estrela
Bee Serra da Estrela is a regenerative project in Manteigas that combines syntropic agriculture, forest restoration and nature-based tourism…
Movimento Estrela Viva
Movimento Estrela Viva is a non-partisan, non-profit citizen movement born after the 2017 wildfires, dedicated to protecting and restoring t…
NBI - Natural Business Intelligence
NBI – Natural Business Intelligence is a Portuguese consultancy specialised in biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital, helping…
Carvalhal (RH Florestal)
Carvalhal is a 220-hectare forest property near Penha Garcia, Idanha-a-Nova, managed by RH Florestal since 2019, combining cork oak, holm oa…
Azores UNESCO Global Geopark
The Azores UNESCO Global Geopark encompasses a network of 121 geosites across the nine Azorean islands, celebrating the archipelago's unique…
Blue Azores
Blue Azores is a marine conservation programme born in 2019 from a partnership between the Regional Government of the Azores, the Oceano Azu…
TAGIS – Centro de Conservação das Borboletas de Portugal
TAGIS is a Portuguese non-profit association dedicated to the scientific study and conservation of butterflies and other insects, running na…
Quinta do Pisão (Parque da Natureza de Cascais)
Quinta do Pisão, officially the Parque da Natureza de Cascais, is a municipal nature park in Alcabideche dedicated to biodiversity conservat…
Reserva do Vale Velho
Reserva do Vale Velho is an ecological restoration and cultural preservation project on a 100-hectare former farm in the Serra da Estrela Na…
Oásis Biosistema
Oásis Biosistema is a Portuguese company founded in 2022 by Alberto Tassi, specialising in the design and construction of natural pools, orn…
CCMAR – Centre of Marine Sciences (Universidade do Algarve)
CCMAR is a non-profit marine research centre at the University of Algarve dedicated to understanding, protecting and exploring the ocean thr…
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…
Oceano Azul Foundation
Oceano Azul Foundation is an international foundation based in Lisbon dedicated to ocean conservation through science, policy advocacy, and …
REA Alentejo
REA Alentejo is a project led by ADPM – Associação para a Defesa do Património de Mértola that develops and tests a replicable model to rest…
Ocean Alive
Ocean Alive is Portugal's first cooperative dedicated to ocean protection, working with coastal and fishing communities to conserve seagrass…
Grupo Lobo
Grupo Lobo is a Portuguese association dedicated to the conservation of the Iberian wolf since 1985, combining scientific research, environm…
Tapada Nacional de Mafra
Tapada Nacional de Mafra is a historic walled forest in Portugal dedicated to biodiversity conservation, research and public nature experien…
Associação Dunas Livres
Associação Dunas Livres is a Portuguese citizen movement fighting to preserve the wild dunes, lagoons and wetlands of the Costa Azul (Tróia …
RWSW Rewilding Sudoeste
RWSW Rewilding Sudoeste is a non-profit association based in Aljezur, founded in 2021, dedicated to protecting and developing native forests…
Brigada do Mar
Brigada do Mar is a Portuguese environmental NGO founded in 2009 dedicated to decontaminating the coastline and educating communities about …
Ilhas de Biodiversidade
Ilhas de Biodiversidade creates dense native mini-forests using the Miyawaki method in industrial, educational and community settings across…
Veredas da Estrela
Veredas da Estrela is a community association founded after the 2022 wildfires that devastated 25% of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, wor…
Idanha-à-Vida
Idanha-à-Vida is a large-scale ecological, social and cultural regeneration project spanning 1,600 hectares around the historic village of I…
Regen Waves
Regen Waves is a non-profit movement regenerating the Arrábida bioregion in Portugal through native 'superforests', community-led Regen Walk…
Palombar
Founded in 2000, Palombar is a Portuguese environmental NGO based in Vimioso (Bragança) dedicated to conserving nature and rural heritage in…
Pangea Trust
Pangea Trust is transforming a thousand-acre estate in Alentejo into Europe's first large-scale elephant sanctuary. The project provides a n…
Viveiro Campesino
Viveiro Campesino is a small family-run nursery near Marvão, Portugal, producing reforestation, fruit and medicinal plants using regenerativ…
Parque de Natureza de Noudar
Parque de Natureza de Noudar is a 151-hectare conservation and nature tourism project near Barrancos, created by EDIA as an environmental of…
Mud Valley Institute
Mud Valley Institute is a nonprofit regenerative education and action organisation based near Lagos, Portugal, working to combat desertifica…
AIMM – Marine Environment Research Association
AIMM – Marine Environment Research Association is a Portuguese non-profit NGO founded in 2010 and based in the Algarve, dedicated to the sci…
Amigos dos Açores – Associação Ecológica
Amigos dos Açores – Associação Ecológica is a nature conservation NGO based in São Miguel, Azores, dedicated to protecting the region's natu…
A Rocha Portugal
A Rocha Portugal is a Christian environmental NGO founded in 1983, based at the Cruzinha field study centre and bird observatory in the Alga…
Plantar uma Árvore
Plantar uma Árvore is a Portuguese environmental NGO dedicated to native forest conservation and ecological restoration through volunteer-dr…
FAPAS – Associação Portuguesa para a Conservação da Biodiversidade
FAPAS is a long-standing Portuguese NGO dedicated to biodiversity conservation, managing protected natural areas and running educational and…
Quercus – Associação Nacional de Conservação da Natureza
Quercus is Portugal's largest independent environmental NGO, founded in 1985, dedicated to nature conservation and environmental defence nat…
OArborista
OArborista is a certified arboriculture company based in Sesimbra and Lisbon, led by professional arborist Ruben Oliveira with over 15 years…
GEOTA
GEOTA – Grupo de Estudos de Ordenamento do Território e Ambiente – is a national non-profit environmental NGO active since 1981, working on …
Associação Vita Nativa
Associação Vita Nativa is a Portuguese non-profit founded in 2018 in the Ria Formosa region, dedicated to environmental conservation through…
VERDE - Associação para a Conservação Integrada da Natureza
VERDE is a Portuguese nature conservation association based in Lousada that protects old-growth trees, supports biodiversity, and offers car…
EcoAtivo
EcoAtivo is a Portuguese nature protection and conservation association based in Fundão that works to improve the relationship between human…
Associação Cabeço Santo
Associação Cabeço Santo is a Portuguese environmental NGO dedicated to the ecological restoration of degraded landscapes on the western slop…
Faia Brava – Associação de Conservação da Natureza
Faia Brava – Associação de Conservação da Natureza is a Portuguese environmental NGO with over 25 years of history, pioneering the recogniti…
Wild Forest Garden
Wild Forest Garden is a registered NGO in southern Alentejo, Portugal, dedicated to creating biodiverse forest gardens using syntropic agric…
Ria Formosa Wetland Protection
The Ria Formosa Natural Park is a protected coastal wetland stretching 60 kilometres along the Algarve, sheltering exceptional biodiversity …
MONTIS – Associação de Conservação da Natureza
MONTIS is a Portuguese environmental NGO founded in 2014 and headquartered in Vouzela, Viseu, that manages 313 hectares across 38 properties…
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 center located in Olhão, within the Ria Formosa Natural Park, dedicated to rescuing and reha…
Reflorestar Portugal
Reflorestar Portugal is a non-profit NGO dedicated to ecological regeneration, biodiverse reforestation, and agroforestry across Portugal, e…
Terra Agora
Fundação Terra Agora is a Portuguese public-interest foundation pioneering a new land stewardship model in which donated land is permanently…
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 initiative founded in 2018 by artist and poet Evgenia Emets, dedicated to creating a global ne…
Rewilding Portugal
Rewilding Portugal is a non-profit association dedicated to making Portugal a wilder place by restoring ecosystems and wildlife corridors, w…
Habitat restoration in Portugal
Restoration here usually starts from one of three inheritances: eucalyptus planted where oak woodland stood, land burned in one of the big fire years, or a hillside abandoned when the village emptied. Each needs a different intervention, and all of them need patience measured in decades.
MONTIS buys and restores native woodland around Vouzela. Faia Brava does long-term work in the Côa. ALMARGEM and Vita Nativa restore habitat in the Algarve, VERDE protects old-growth trees near Lousada, and Parque de Natureza de Noudar runs a restored estate on the Spanish border.
Planting days and monitoring work are practical ways to volunteer; project pages show where they happen. Related focuses: rewilding, tree planting and land stewardship and trusts; dated field days are on our events calendar.