Reborn
from the ashes
The moment to save the Vale da Aveleira is now.
Support this cause →"A large wildfire tore through the heart of the ancient woodland of the Vale da Aveleira Integral Bio-Reserve. Only precise, strategic action can save this unique ecosystem."
Applied entirely to the recovery of the Vale da Aveleira — monitoring, fighting invasive species and natural regeneration, from 2025 to 2028.
PT50 0033 0000 4556 8966 5210 5 914 311 592 For a donation receipt, send proof of transfer + your name, address and tax number (NIF) to geral@milvoz.pt
The jewel in the crown
The Vale da Aveleira was the jewel in the crown of our network of Bio-Reserves.
A true paradise of biodiversity, with a vast number of centuries-old trees of various native species. A portal to the past, letting us witness what the vegetation cover of much of the country would have looked like before human intervention.
Until August 2025, this ancient woodland remained almost untouched — 75 hectares of dense, hard-to-reach forest, home to a diversity of life rarely seen in the landscape of the Serra da Lousã.
The August fire
August 2025 brought some of the most destructive wildfires in our country's history.
The scale and force of the flames, fed by vast forest areas of pyrophytic species, overwhelmed even the mature forests of the Vale da Aveleira. Two weeks after the fire, the reserve was black, deeply affected, with little left of the lush green that once characterised it.
An enormous trail of death and destruction, where once there was life in abundance.
The invisible threat
With the fire came a threat as dangerous as it is silent: invasive species.
The seed banks of acacias — Acacia dealbata, Acacia melanoxylon and Hakea salicifolia — that already existed in the surroundings and were waiting for a catastrophe like this now have the ideal opportunity to germinate.
Decades of invasive-species proliferation in these mountains have led to a scenario where accumulated seeds exist everywhere. With the passage of the fire, their germination is now abundant. If we do not act now, the future of this area will be irreparably compromised.
What we'll do with the €25,000
The task ahead will demand a herculean effort — 750,000 square metres of very hard-to-reach terrain, where the germination of invasive species is already abundant. The funding will allow us to:
Monitoring and detection
Continuous monitoring and detection of biological-invasion hotspots in hard-to-reach locations across the entire Bio-Reserve.
Control plan
Drawing up a plan to control and eradicate the main invasive species identified in the area.
Human resources 2026–2028
Hiring teams to carry out campaigns to remove germinating and resprouting invasive species across the 75 hectares of the Bio-Reserve.
Natural regeneration
Monitoring natural recovery processes and identifying the need to sow local native tree species.
"In the scars left on the landscape,
we now find the ashes
from which we will be reborn."
Help us save the Vale da Aveleira
Every contribution, large or small, is part of this story of resilience and rebirth.
PT50 0033 0000 4556 8966 5210 5 914 311 592 For a donation receipt, send proof of transfer + your name, full address and tax number (NIF) to geral@milvoz.pt
Discover the Bio-Reserve →