The Idanha-à-Vida Project includes both an Ecological Restoration Program and a Socioeconomic Program, which are interlinked. The project’s planning focuses on three aspects to be developed over time: reciprocity – restoring past losses – restoration – restoring natural ecological systems or ecosystems – and regeneration – building ecological and social resilience. Thus, the strategy for the project starts from a socio-ecological framework in which the dream, converted into a will, becomes the vision that leads to practice over the next 25 years, starting in 2021.
‘We see ourselves as guardians of the earth, consciously and actively contributing to its recovery so that we can hand it on to future generations in better condition.
For us, this means dealing with the socio-ecological challenges of our times, on the land that has been entrusted to us, in the region where we are located. On a scale almost unparalleled in Portugal, we have started a restoration project that aims to repair the damage done to the land over almost a century of exploitation through industrial farming, but also to combat, as far as we can, the devastating socio-economic and demographic evolution that has affected the local population for at least five decades. We see ourselves as guardians of the land, consciously and actively contributing to its recovery so that we can hand it on to future generations in better condition.
As the project consolidates, we will make continuous efforts to become more transparent and inclusive towards our partners and stakeholders, especially the inhabitants of the village of Idanha-a-Velha, to ensure that we truly take their best interests into account. We believe that involving the local population is essential if we are to prosper together.
