Amigos dos Açores – Associação Ecológica

Amigos dos Açores – Associação Ecológica runs guided walks, volunteer restoration days and study visits in the Azores. It has worked on environmental advocacy, community engagement and biodiversity protection since at least the late 1980s. The association was founded to defend and value the natural environment of the archipelago, and it's based in the Museum building of Pico da Pedra, in Ribeira Grande, on São Miguel Island. Its emblem shows two rare Azores bullfinches (*priôlo*, *Pyrrhula murina*). They stand for the association's commitment to protecting the archipelago's unique biodiversity, which includes some of the rarest bird species in Europe, found only in the Serra da Tronqueira and the Ribeira do Guilherme valley. The association's methods are non-violent and participatory, and its activities are cultural, educational, scientific, sporting, recreational and social. The guided walks (*Passeios Pedestres*) take place regularly across the island. Every year there are study visits to other Azorean islands to exchange knowledge with local communities and international partners. A recent exchange was with a Polish forest school association. Volunteer days are given over to hands-on ecological restoration, notably at Pinhal da Paz, where volunteers help restore native habitat and share communal vegan meals. The association also manages educational and cultural spaces, among them the Gruta do Carvão lava cave, and runs an online shop that supports its activities. Its programme areas are nature activities, associativism, animal welfare, education and participation, nature photography, and natural heritage.