Glyphosate and the risk to public health
Glyphosate is a herbicide that emerged in the 1970s and has been widely used in the agricultural production of food for human consumption. This herbicide was developed to control weed growth in agricultural fields. As a result, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) emerged, engineered to withstand exposure to glyphosate, making them more resistant and more productive […]
Agroforestry WorkCamp – 22nd to 25th of April
From April 22nd to 25th, 2023, EcoAtivo held its first Agroforestry WorkCamp, facilitated by our team members. In this immersive experience in syntropic agriculture, we came together to build a new agroforestry area at the Ananda Valley site. In the syntropic agriculture model, plants are distributed across the land in a way that promotes greater […]
Introduction to Permaculture
Permaculture is an important and sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture. But permaculture is also important in everyday life. Permaculture is a kind of toolkit for creating a lifestyle in harmony with the environment. It is based on nature as its model. Every action is guided by a single question: What would nature do? The answer […]
Water Retention Structure
Due to the increasingly noticeable effects of climate change — through extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall in short periods, extreme winds, and soil erosion — it has become necessary to adapt the land to these new weather conditions. Our region of Cova da Beira is also strongly affected by these changes. Since […]
Newsletter October 2021
“Our generation is facing historic challenges, never seen before. The social, environmental, and economic crisis we are living through has reached levels that seem impossible to solve. But the truth is that solutions exist, and they are simple to understand.” 🌱 🌱 🌱 October was another month full of activities. We organized 5 workshops, 1 […]
Newsletter September 2021
September marks our first Newsletter. This month we organized 6 workshops, 3 training sessions and 1 walk. In total we had 73 participants in our activities. It was 4 very intense weeks for our association! 🌿 🌿 🌿 Below is a recap of some of the activities we organized. WORKSHOPS AND TRAININGS SYNTROPIC REFORESTATION On […]
Regenerating burned land in Monchique with Reflorestar Portugal
Summary Reflorestablitz is a gathering of eco-conscious souls to regenerate land, an idea born at the “2nd Forest Gathering” organized by Reflorestar Portugal. From November 16 to 21, 12 brave volunteers came together to face the harsh winter conditions in Monchique and planted trees, built check dams and cut down eucalyptus. This was a follow-up […]
Lakabe – Another Life Is Possible
A brief account of an inspiring project in northern Spain. In the mountains of the Basque Country, not far from France, you can find a small ecovillage called Lakabe. The community began more than 40 years ago. It was an abandoned village that was occupied by activists fighting against environmental degradation in the area. The […]
Hike in Covão D’Ametade
On a sunny summer day, myself and four friends — all from different places (Sintra, the Algarve, Italy, Hungary, and Sweden, a common feature of life together at Ananda Valley) — wanting to unwind, discover the beauty of the great mountain always present on Ananda Valley’s horizon, and immerse ourselves in the natural landscape of […]
Workshop Seed Bombs
On September 18th, the EcoAtivo team organized a Seed Bomb workshop. This technique involves growing plants by throwing balls made of clay, compost, and seeds. We taught how the process of making them works, and, working together, we made over 100 balls, which were then scattered across an open field. The balls contained seeds from […]