Rewilding Portugal

Rewilding Portugal works to restore natural processes, recover wildlife populations and reconnect fragmented habitats, using rewilding principles. It's a non-profit association, legally registered as ARIP – Associação Rewilding Iberia PT, founded in January 2019 and based in Arrifana, Guarda. It is the principal partner of Rewilding Europe in the Greater Côa Valley rewilding area, and it is committed to promoting wilder nature across Portugal and the wider Iberian Peninsula. Most of the work happens in the Greater Côa Valley, a biodiverse border region in northeastern Portugal that runs from the Douro in the north to the Malcata Mountains in the south. Its ancient dehesa, sierra and montado habitats are linked to similar wild areas elsewhere in Iberia through the Natura 2000 network. The Faia Brava reserve, Portugal's first private protected area, sits within this corridor. The association manages three areas in the valley. One is Ermo das Águias, where ecological restoration actions are being carried out to support natural processes and trophic chains. It is also scaling up its work to reinforce a 120,000-hectare wildlife corridor, trying to reverse decades of land abandonment and agricultural decline in a region once dominated by olive, almond and cereal growing and by traditional sheep husbandry. Rewilding Portugal leads LIFE Wolflux as well, an EU-funded project to improve habitat connectivity for wolves south of the Douro. The wolf is a keystone predator, and the project supports its recovery and the broader ecological balance that comes with it. The organisation publishes annual activity and financial reports and keeps its governance structures clear. It invites the public to take part through volunteering, touristic experiences and community collaboration, and it works with local municipalities such as Pinhel to build awareness of and engagement with rewilding.