Crowdfunding Campaign: Seeding Eternal Forest in Faia Brava – first of 1,000 forest sanctuaries – connecting art, community, and forest
For the first time, Eternal Forest and Faia Brava join efforts to create a sanctuary where contemporary art meets nature conservation — in Portugal’s first private protected area, which in 2025 celebrates its 25th anniversary.
This event will bring together thinkers, decision-makers, and key actors in the fields of art and ecosystem regeneration.
Through a crowdfunding campaign, they invite you to take part and support this first phase of the project.
On November 7–8, 2025, the initiative will take the first steps to seed a forest that is not only regenerative and biodiverse but also a living work of art. Created through the partnership of Eternal Forest, a global art and ecology initiative founded in Portugal, and Faia Brava – Associação de Conservação da Natureza, a protected reserve stewarded for 25 years, this will be a forest like no other.
You are warmly invited to join Eternal Forest in person on the days of November 2025 at Faia Brava for this unforgettable gathering. Come plant the first trees through a regenerative artistic design, meet the artists, scientists, and guardians, and take part in an experience of art and poetry, along with a symposium on art, forest, and community in collaboration with the Côa Park Foundation — an event open to all who wish to participate, support, or witness this historic moment.
🌿 This is just the beginning: first chapter of a long-term vision, first forest sanctuary out of 1,000!
The planting in November is not a one-off event — it’s the first chapter of a multi-generational project that will unfold over the years. Eternal Forest Faia Brava will grow slowly and meaningfully, rooted in care, co-creation, and ecological knowledge.
This crowdfunding campaign will provide them with the resources to not only deliver the first phase and the event in November, but also to develop vital research and collaborative designs that can be replicated to grow Eternal Forests all over Portugal.
By contributing to this campaign, you are planting the first seeds of a sanctuary that will continue to grow over generations, ecologically, artistically, and communally.
🌿 What this campaign supports
With your help, the initiative hopes to raise €22,000 to fund the Seed of Eternal Forest Faia Brava, the Phase 1 of the project, including:
- Organise an artistic residency and a technical visit at Faia Brava to do on-site research and ecological listening to select the most meaningful planting location, while connecting to local community, initiatives and planning the project
- Create a collaborative design of the forest sanctuary: artist Evgenia Emets and regenerative designer Maurício Umann of Fractal Regenerative Technologies, together with biodiversity specialists and plant experts, focusing on creating habitats
- Prepare the site and plant the first trees in November, including transport, logistics, plants, materials and equipment
- Organise the Seeding Eternal Forest in Faia Brava Symposium in collaboration with Côa Museum
- Community gathering and village celebration
- Filming of the process of creating the Eternal Forest Sanctuary + short trailer
- A digital and physical publication about the process of creating Eternal Forest Sanctuary
🌿 Why Eternal Forest is creating this project
This Eternal Forest is an invitation to long-term thinking. They are creating a habitat for the future old-growth forest, not a plantation. A seed of Eternal Forest – native species will be planted in an artistic design — guided by biodiversity, artistic vision, regenerative design and a deep respect for place.
The forest will grow alongside artistic residencies, education, and community participation, becoming a space of beauty, resilience, and cultural continuity.
The site sits in the Côa Valley, home to some of Europe’s most extraordinary prehistoric engravings and paintings — a region where nature and culture have always been entwined.
CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE? https://seed.eternalforest.earth/event-en
Eternal Forest began in Portugal in 2018 and has since grown into an international network of artists, ecologists, and communities. Our vision is to create 1,000 forest sanctuaries protected for 1,000 years – and Faia Brava will be the very first. https://www.eternalforest.earth/
Faia Brava is Portugal’s first classified Private Protected Area, part of the Natura 2000 network, IBA and Côa Archaeological Park (UNESCO). Spanning 1,000 ha of sustainably managed natural landscapes, it features stunning landscape of Côa River with wild cliffs, native forest of cork oaks, holm oaks. It provides critical habitat for griffon and Egyptian vultures, golden and Bonelli’s eagles, and black storks. Emblematic species like wildcats, otters, roe deer, and wild boar help sustain the ecosystem and naturally reduce wildfire risk.
Image credits: Marco Piano, Eternal Forest
