MONTIS – Associação de Conservação da Natureza

MONTIS buys land in Portugal and manages it for biodiversity. As of August 2025 the association looks after around 313 hectares across 34 properties in central Portugal, plus four more in the Lisbon area. It is a non-profit environmental NGO, set up on 21 March 2014, with its headquarters in Vouzela, in the Viseu district of central Portugal, and it has 345 members. Its mission is to produce biodiversity through natural heritage management that is sustainable, participatory, transparent and open. The idea is to manage land so that conserving biodiversity generates value. What sets MONTIS apart is that it acquires the properties and actively stewards them, working to a long-term, adaptive strategy grounded in measurable results. Four objectives guide the work: letting natural processes develop; conserving native species; managing forest fires and other natural risks intelligently; and increasing the market value of biodiversity. The association operates across very different ecosystems, from Serra d'El Rei near Peniche to the Terra Fria Transmontana, where it carries out biodiversity surveys and supports local conservation work, including the preservation of native breeds such as the Miranda donkey. Volunteer days run monthly, with habitat restoration tasks such as controlling eucalyptus regrowth. Biodiversity walks take place every two months, in different regions of the country. There are also butterfly bioblitzes and educational visits. All of these are open to members and to the wider public. MONTIS is asking for community support to buy more properties, and welcomes new members and donations as part of its participatory model.