VOLUNTEER
Be Part Of Creating Something Meaningful
After more than twenty years of creating spaces for healing, learning, hospitality, and community, we have found our lifelong home on 14 hectares of native forest in the mountains of Marvão, Portugal.
Here we are restoring the land while creating a place for learning, regeneration, and conscious hospitality.
Guided by the ethics of permaculture, we care for water, soil, forests, and biodiversity, cultivating a simple way of living in harmony with nature.
This is a wonderful opportunity to join the project at its very beginning.
Together we are improving biodiversity, designing water systems, planting trees and gardens, building natural infrastructure, and shaping a place that we hope will leave a lasting positive impact on this land, its people, and future generations.
Why volunteer?
Volunteering is the act of freely offering your time, energy, and skills in service of something larger than yourself.
You will work alongside us and learn from many years of experience in stewardship, natural building, hospitality, and community-based projects.
If you enjoy meaningful, physical work, are curious to learn new skills, and would like to contribute to something of lasting value, we would love to welcome you.
What will you help with
• Forest regeneration
• Agroforestry and gardening
• Water systems
• Natural building
• Ecological infrastructure
• Land maintenance
• Animal care
• Cooking and cleaning
Living together
Madreselva is our family home and regenerative project.
We deeply value kindness, respect, responsibility, and open communication.
We welcome people who arrive with curiosity, commitment, and a genuine desire to contribute.
We ask everyone to care for the land, the shared spaces, and one another.
Reciprocity
We ask for a minimum stay of 2 weeks.
This allows enough time for everyone to settle in, build trust, and become part of the daily rhythm of the place.
We ask volunteers to contribute 5 hours per day, 5 days per week.
We appreciate people who are reliable, responsible, able to work independently when needed, and who take care in everything they do.
In exchange for your contribution, we provide accommodation, food, learning opportunities, and the experience of living immersed in a beautiful and vibrant forest.
Daily rhythm
Summer 7:00 am to 12:00 pm
Winter 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
Working hours may occasionally change depending on the weather or the needs of the project.
Meals
We share three healthy meals a day, seven days a week.
We offer a healthy Mediterranean diet. Although we are not vegetarians, we are happy to provide delicious and balanced vegetarian meals for those who prefer them.
Accommodation
December to March: Shared yurt accommodation.
April to November: Camping tent accommodation.
We provide a mattress, sleeping bag, and pillow.
If this project speaks to your heart, we'd love to get to know you.
Please complete the Volunteer Application Form and tell us a little about yourself. We carefully read every application and will contact you if we feel there is a good mutual fit.