Would you like to spend your spring and summer surrounded by stunning Portuguese landscapes? For those passionate about wild nature, and who also love communicating about it, our rewilding team in Western Iberia is now offering a unique opportunity.
In 2014, the wildlife monitoring team in the Western Iberia rewilding area placed a wildlife camera in the Faia Brava nature reserve, next to a carcass of a Maronesa cow that died naturally. The intention was to monitor the use of the carcass by scavengers and other animals. One day, the camera mysteriously disappeared from the location and was recently found intact but without power. The images discovered on the memory card revealed what really happened.
This October, a group of volunteers from the Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN), partner of Rewilding Europe in Western Iberia, participated in a work camp where they recovered a ruined house in Ribeira do Mosteiro nature reserve. The restoration of the property will continue and once finished, ATN will use the house for their various activities.
In September, Rewilding Europe released its first promotional film about creating a wilder Europe. Canon France sponsored this film produced by Emmanuel Rondeau, a French cinematographer and film producer from White Fox Pictures. Emmanuel used the new CANON EOS-1D X Mark II camera to show its various features and the innovative filming technology. The promotional film has been seen by many people all across the world, and was received very well. Emmanuel also produced a short film that takes you behind the scene where Emmanuel gives his feedback on Canon’s new flagship DSLR.
Wildlife Portugal, a wildlife tour operator, has become the fourth recipient of a Rewilding Europe Capital (REC) loan in the Western Iberia rewilding area. Wildlife Portugal is specialised in bird tours within the region and specifically in Faia Brava nature reserve. This enterprise focusses on wildlife watching, nature conservation and education.
Portugal, or at least the region in which we stayed, was far richer in wildlife than most if not all of Denmark. The diversity and sheer number of bird species we witnessed far outcompeted anything I’ve seen even in the largest nature reserves in my country. Even so, when we entered the Faia Brava reserve, the difference was immediately noticeable. While the towns and arable fields of the surrounding landscapes had been home to a great number of animals, the reserve was in a league of its own.
Star Camp – a unique safari-style camp overlooking Portugal’s Côa Valley, opened up in June to welcome and host its very first guests. This nature traveler’s dream was an idea conceived by Rewilding Europe back in 2013. Through collaboration with the Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN), our main partner in Western Iberia and sole owner of the Faia Brava Reserve, this idea became reality making the Star Camp Europe’s first real safari-style accommodation.
The dramatic landscape of Western Iberia in Portugal where the Côa river is carving its deep path through the mountains is home to a vast variety of wildlife. Animal species of all sizes, shapes and colors inhabit land, skies and waters of the Côa Valley, however a great number of them are hard to spot. Anyone can see large herbivores from afar, but many other species are only visible through lenses of wildlife cameras – the invisible eyes in the wild.
Born and raised in a small village among the mountain ranges of central Portugal, Pedro’s interest in the natural world began at an early age. Over time, what started as a child’s natural curiosity turned into a serious academic pursuit as Pedro, after experimenting with different pathways in his early student days, eventually graduated from the University of Lisbon with a Master of Science in Biology.
The celebration of the 15th anniversary of Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN) on 12–14 June marked the great progress made with rewilding of the Côa Valley in the Portuguese part of the Western Iberia rewilding area. During the event, the Faia Brava Star Camp pre-launch took place to show the visitors an accommodation unique and new for Europe.