THREE ASPECTS OF CARING FOR LAND
1
Strategic landscapes secured
for long-term regeneration.
2
Guardians assume long‑term
responsibility.
3
Learning Circle prepares people to hold this care responsibly
LANDSCAPES UNDER STEWARDSHIP
OR IN ADVANCED STAGES OF ACQUISITION
We secure lands as living systems, not as isolated plots
We work across rural estates, baldios, smallholdings, peri‑urban and urban sites where strategic value goes beyond size.
A 1,600 hectare plot where a guardian team has begun a major project in ecological, social and economic regeneration.
- Co-creating Long-Term Vision
- Fostering Community Connection
- Established Ecological Baseline
20 Jobs
Created
Economic Return
Biodiversity
Recovery
Natural Return
Local Market
Revived
Social Return
Community
Involvement
Inspirational Return
A 2000m2 quinta and home where the donors live and remain as guardians, creating a food forest and building community.
- Building a Seed Bank
- Demonstrating Agroecology
- Prototyping Regenerative Guardianship
- Empowering Community Action
Ecosystem
Biodiversity
Natural Return
Property
Rehabilitated
Economic Return
Guardians
Trained
Social Return
Established
Community
Inspirational Return
An association formed to regenerate mountain landscapes across four municipalities of Central Portugal for owners who can no longer care for them.
- Designing a Micro-Reserve Network
- Aggregating Abandoned Mountain Plots
- Controlling Invasive Species
- Sustainable Business Models
Ecological
Awareness
Natural Return
Regional
Advocacy
Inspirational Return
Local Market
Revived
Economic Return
Community
Participation
Social Return
Tell us about your land
WHO CARES FOR THESE PLACES
Guardian Entities steward specific landscapes over time. They restore ecosystems, livelihoods, and social fabric in practice. Guardianship outlives any single person or project.
LEARNING TO CARE
Learning Circles are learning pathways for people ready to grow into long‑term responsibility for land and place.
The Guardian Regeneration Pathway blends learning with practice, helping people build ecological literacy, governance skills, economic realism, and inner readiness. Individuals, collectives, and landowners can begin learning ,with or without land, before stepping into formal guardianship.
PROTECTION AND CARE BEYOND ONE LIFETIME
Our model works in both rural and urban settings
Whether you hold land, want to become a Guardian, support regeneration, or simply feel called to learn, this is a place to begin.
Regeneration is not a project.
It is a commitment across time.
Frequently Asked Questions
And if you can’t find an answer, just send us a message.
Where will these guardians come from?
We do not just find guardians; we cultivate them. Avoiding the fragility of individual ownership, we require Guardian Entities,teams of at least three people, to ensure resilience and diverse skills. We source these teams through our Regenerative Entrepreneurship Learning Pathway, Bio-Region networks, and regional foundation hubs.
Who will fund the guardians?
Guardians act as businesses, generating their own revenue through sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism, and forest products. For the initial training and setup phase, we mobilize capital through ‘The Grove’, our circle of impact philanthropists, and specific ‘Guardian Entrepreneurship Funds’. Over time, we are exploring how the natural returns generated on protected land, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity gains, might responsibly support Guardians’ economic viability. Any such mechanism would be subject to the Foundation’s statutes, ethical guidelines and independent verification.
If I own land, can I become a guardian on my land without donating my land to the Foundation?
For owners who wish to keep ownership in their family, we are developing a complementary pathway: granting the Foundation a surface right (direito de superfície) over the land for a fixed term. Ownership would never leave the family, the surface right would give the Foundation defined responsibilities for safeguarding and monitoring the land’s regeneration during the term, and would simply expire at its end. This pathway is still being designed and is subject to approval by the Foundation’s governing bodies; if it interests you, we would be glad to explore it with you as it takes shape.
How do you ensure the land remains protected if the Foundation goes bankrupt or dissolves?
If the Foundation were ever dissolved, its statutes condition any destination of its assets on the continued protection of Strategic Assets, keeping land within a cycle of conservation and regeneration rather than a cycle of buying and selling.
Can I reclaim my property after a few years if what I see happening there is not to my satisfaction?
No, once a donation contract is finalised, the property cannot be reclaimed by the original owner; our Carta de Princípios dos Mecenas explicitly states that assets cannot return to donors, ensuring they are permanently removed from the speculative market. However, if the project is not proceeding as planned, the Foundation acts as the ‘Ultimate Guardian’ with the statutory authority to intervene, rescind the contract with the specific Guardian entity, and appoint a new one to ensure the agreed-upon regenerative vision is fulfilled. This structure guarantees that while the land remains protected in perpetuity under the Foundation’s ownership, the management can be changed to ensure the project’s success and alignment with our shared mission.
Guardianship
Stewardship
Conservation
Legacy
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