Welcome to ILha
24 hectares of wild land in central Portugal on the threshold of change.
The Living Model
ILha begins with our relationship with this place.
Nestled beneath the Gardunha Mountains, between the villages of Alpedrinha and Póvoa de Atalaia, is ILha: one of the last wild places in the region, where the relationship between people, land and culture continues to shape everyday life.
This way of life is becoming increasingly forgotten. We wanted others to encounter what remains alive here, and to discover what becomes possible through a deeper relationship with this place.
From this emerged a vision: to create The People's Forest and the Rural School of Arts, a living model that explores how reciprocal relationships between people, place and culture can create lasting ecological, cultural and economic resilience.
Rather than treating ecological restoration, cultural preservation and community life as separate challenges, ILha brings them together into one place, each strengthening the others. The People's Forest restores the ecological health of the landscape, while the Rural School of Arts preserves traditional knowledge through making, teaching and intergenerational exchange.
Together, they create opportunities for local communities, artists, teachers, students, philanthropists and partners to participate in the long-term stewardship of this place. As knowledge, care and resources circulate through these relationships, they strengthen the land, support local communities and carry traditional knowledge forward.
In doing so, ILha becomes a place where people from different cultures, generations and walks of life can gather around a shared relationship with the land, exploring together:
What kind of future becomes possible when a living relationship between people, place and culture continue to shape one another?
Support us to
protect ILha
The vision will create a living example of what’s possible if we come together in the right relationship with the land cultivating nourishment, abundance and creativity.
Who we are
We are a collective of artists, designers and storytellers with a shared vision; to promote and celebrate vital landscapes where people as nature thrive. In deep relationship with the elemental wisdom, stories and crafts of the land.
We are here because we fell in love with the land in the valley of the Gardunha mountains for its diversity of nature, dark skies and enchantment. The perfect home for this vision.