The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Nature and Biodiversity Protection Programme provides core funding to eight environmental NGOs across Portugal between 2025 and 2026, strengthening their long-term capacity to protect species, habitats and ecosystems. Supported organisations include TAGIS, Vita Nativa, ALMARGEM, Rewilding Portugal, LPN and Faia Brava, among others.
The Nature and Biodiversity Protection Programme is an initiative of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation aimed at strengthening biodiversity and ecosystem preservation throughout Portugal. Rather than funding individual, time-limited projects, the programme provides core institutional funding to environmental NGOs and equivalent organisations, allowing them to operate more sustainably, flexibly and continuously while increasing the long-term impact of their conservation work.
Between 2025 and 2026, eight environmental organisations are receiving support under this programme. These include TAGIS – Butterfly Conservation Center of Portugal, which studies and monitors butterflies and other insect groups; Associação Vita Nativa, working in the Algarve, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and the Ave River estuary on species monitoring, habitat restoration and invasive species removal; ALMARGEM, a long-standing Algarve organisation defending natural and cultural heritage; Rewilding Portugal, which restores ecosystems and ecological corridors in the Ribacôa and Beira Alta regions; the Liga para a Protecção da Natureza (LPN), the oldest environmental organisation in the Iberian Peninsula, active nationwide since 1948; and Faia Brava, which conserves land and restores habitats in the Águeda, Côa and Douro river valleys.
Through this funding model, the Gulbenkian Foundation aims to help Portugal's environmental sector build institutional resilience, retain expertise and pursue conservation strategies over longer timeframes than typical project grants allow. The programme reflects the Foundation's broader philanthropic mission, established in 1956, to promote knowledge and improve quality of life through the arts, science, education and health, extending this mission into climate and biodiversity action.
Our Goal
To strengthen biodiversity and ecosystem preservation across Portugal by providing core, multi-year funding to environmental NGOs, boosting their long-term capacity, impact and operational sustainability rather than financing isolated projects.
Our Wishes
The programme seeks to identify and support environmental organisations whose conservation work in Portugal could benefit from stable, flexible core funding.
