Sciaena
Sciaena is a Portuguese NGO founded in 2006 dedicated to marine conservation, sustainable fisheries and public awareness of ocean issues. It…
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
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,…
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…
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…
RWSW Rewilding Sudoeste
RWSW Rewilding Sudoeste is a non-profit association based in Aljezur, founded in 2021, dedicated to protecting and developing native forests…
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…
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…
Associação Vita Nativa
Associação Vita Nativa is a Portuguese non-profit founded in 2018 in the Ria Formosa region, dedicated to environmental conservation through…
Ria Formosa Wetland Protection
The Ria Formosa Natural Park is a protected coastal wetland stretching 60 kilometres along the Algarve, sheltering exceptional biodiversity …
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…
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,…
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.