Rewilding

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.