EcoAtivo

EcoAtivo is a non-profit association based in Fundão, Beira Interior, that runs practical projects across central Portugal on farming, forests, invasive species and environmental education. Its formal name is the Associação de Protecção e Conservação da Natureza. The association was founded with the social objective of regenerating the relationship between people and nature. It works on several levels at once, drawing on regenerative ecology, community resilience, environmental justice and progressive innovation. The values it names are regenerative ecology, integrity, whole-system awareness, sustainability, progressive innovation and valuing diversity. Among its main initiatives, EcoAtivo promotes syntropic agriculture, the natural succession agroforestry model developed by Ernst Götsch, which it considers the most sustainable and resilient way to produce food. The GreenTech project combines knowledge of natural systems with technology to produce environmental benefits. ForestVision monitors, measures, analyses and evaluates forest ecosystems in response to local environmental problems. In the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, EcoAtivo leads a project to control *Ludwigia peploides*, an invasive aquatic species found in the Barragem de Toulica reservoir. It also runs two environmental education programmes. *A Minha Serra* promotes active citizenship and capacity-building on the southern slopes of the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela. *Água, Ar e Vento na Serra* deals with water, air and noise quality, for students and citizens in Cova da Beira. Through its movement and its online presence, EcoAtivo campaigns for a universal, cooperative and resilient relationship between nature and society. Its Instagram motto is “Together regenerating ecosystems!”