Sciaena
Sciaena is a Portuguese NGO founded in 2006 dedicated to marine conservation, sustainable fisheries and public awareness of ocean issues. It…
Ecosystems & Biodiversity
The projects giving land back to nature: Rewilding Portugal in the north-east, MONTIS restoring hillsides near Vouzela, ALMARGEM defending the Algarve's natural heritage, and the Biggest Mini Forest movement planting food forests across the country. Rewilding, agroforestry and the montado at the centre.
Projects in this theme
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…
Mediterranean Gardening Association Portugal (MGAP)
MGAP is a not-for-profit educational association dedicated to promoting Mediterranean gardening, drought-resilient landscaping and native pl…
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,…
Ecosystem restoration and biodiversity in Portugal
Portugal has lost a great deal of its native cover to eucalyptus plantations, abandonment and fire. The projects here work on the other side of that: putting land back into a state that can hold water, carbon and species.
Rewilding Portugal works in the north-east, in the Greater Côa Valley. MONTIS restores hillsides near Vouzela. ALMARGEM defends the Algarve's natural heritage. The Biggest Mini Forest movement plants dense mini-forests around the country. And running through much of it is the montado, the cork oak landscape that is farmed and wild at once, and that most of Europe does not have.
Use the focus filter for rewilding, habitat restoration, agroforestry, cork oak and montado, tree planting, pollinator support, seed saving and exchange, wetland protection, marine conservation, and land stewardship and trusts. Several of these organisations run planting days and depend on volunteers to do it. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.