We are the hands that build. We drive the machines that move earth. We are Amieiras — a manifestation crew based in the Vale da Gema headwaters region, operating throughout the Alentejo. We run heavy equipment, read the landscape, and do the physical work of water retention: roadwork that redirects water for infiltration instead of shedding it, swales carved along contour, check dams built to slow and sink runoff. We work alongside neighbors, cooperatives, and land stewards who want to heal their ground but lack the machines, the know-how, or the fuel to do it. We are part of the Vale da Gema Headwaters Consortium, in partnership with Tamera and Cooperativa Integral da Terra.
Project story
Our region gets over 700 mm of rain a year, but across compacted slopes, every drop races downhill before it can sink in. Flooding downstream. Soil gone. Springs dry by June. This isn't drought — it's a water management failure. And we have the machines and the know-how to fix it.
Amieiras is a land-based crew with 140 Ha at the top of the headwaters. We run heavy equipment, read contours, and build water retention into the landscape. Swales along contour. Check dams in drainage lines. Roadwork built so every ditch holds water instead of shedding it. Affordable, resilient infrastructure that works with the land, not against it.
This region is thick with rock roses, lavender, and rosemary — aromatic plants that produce precious essential oils. No one processes them locally. We want to change that: install a publicly accessible distillery, powered entirely by renewable energy, where any steward in the region can bring their harvest and turn wild plants into income. It transforms scrubland into a livelihood.
We don't draw plans and walk away. We make the earth move and we stay to see the results.
What we'll do, over 18 months:
Deploy our earthwork crew across headwater properties — reading contours, cutting swales, building check dams, and integrating water retention into road and track infrastructure where neighbors need it
Offer the neighborhood fund — a 25%-75% discount program for land stewards who want interventions on their land but face financial barriers; priority to the highest points of the watershed and properties with the highest water retention needs
Provide equipment, tools, and fuel for each intervention — compact machinery, hand tools, and the fuel needed for earthwork on steep slopes
Install Amieiras Distillery — a publicly accessible essential oil distillery powered entirely by renewable energy. Any steward in the region can bring their harvest of rock roses, lavender, rosemary, and other aromatic plants to be processed. A new source of land-based income for everyone.
Finish and maintain retention structures so they're functional, durable, and holding water through the dry season
In two years, the properties we work on will hold more water than they release. Springs downstream will flow longer into summer. The Amieiras Distillery will be running, and neighbors who once saw scrubland as waste will see it as income. This is landcare with machines — infrastructure that heals the ground and feeds the people who live on it.
Funding Goals (all values in €)
First €5,000 — Neighborhood fund subsidies and advertising the discount program
Next €8,000 — Amieiras Distillery setup (copper still, renewable energy, processing shelter)
Next €15,000 — Earthwork interventions on headwater properties (equipment, tools, fuel, crew time)
All above €28,000 — More interventions, more distillery capacity, second round of subsidies
Budget
Neighborhood Fund (Discount Program)
Advertising the discount program to land stewards — €1,500
Subsidized discounts applied (25%-75% based on need) — ~€3,500
Interventions on Our Land
Equipment rental and transport — €4,000
Hand tools, surveying materials, marker stakes — €1,500
Fuel for earthwork machinery — €3,000
Crew labor (skilled operators for swales, check dams, roadwork-as-water-retention) — €6,000
Amieiras Essential Oil Distillery
Copper still, condenser, and separator — €3,000
Renewable energy setup (mirrors, solar panels, battery storage) — €2,500
Processing shelter and workspace — €1,500
Harvest collection tools — €1,000
Additional Interventions (if funded beyond €28,000)
Extended earthwork across more headwater properties — ~€7,000
Second round of neighborhood fund subsidies — ~€5,000
Expanded distillery capacity of different sizes for parallel operation — ~€3,000
Project updates
Team
Amieiras: Providing Affordable Resilience Infrastructure
We are the hands that build. We drive the machines that move earth. We are Amieiras — a manifestation crew based in the Vale da Gema headwaters region, operating throughout the Alentejo. We run heavy equipment, read the landscape, and do the physical work of water retention: roadwork that redirects water for infiltration instead of shedding it, swales carved along contour, check dams built to slow and sink runoff. We work alongside neighbors, cooperatives, and land stewards who want to heal their ground but lack the machines, the know-how, or the fuel to do it. We are part of the Vale da Gema Headwaters Consortium, in partnership with Tamera and Cooperativa Integral da Terra.
Project story
Our region gets over 700 mm of rain a year, but across compacted slopes, every drop races downhill before it can sink in. Flooding downstream. Soil gone. Springs dry by June. This isn't drought — it's a water management failure. And we have the machines and the know-how to fix it.
Amieiras is a land-based crew with 140 Ha at the top of the headwaters. We run heavy equipment, read contours, and build water retention into the landscape. Swales along contour. Check dams in drainage lines. Roadwork built so every ditch holds water instead of shedding it. Affordable, resilient infrastructure that works with the land, not against it.
This region is thick with rock roses, lavender, and rosemary — aromatic plants that produce precious essential oils. No one processes them locally. We want to change that: install a publicly accessible distillery, powered entirely by renewable energy, where any steward in the region can bring their harvest and turn wild plants into income. It transforms scrubland into a livelihood.
We don't draw plans and walk away. We make the earth move and we stay to see the results.
What we'll do, over 18 months:
Deploy our earthwork crew across headwater properties — reading contours, cutting swales, building check dams, and integrating water retention into road and track infrastructure where neighbors need it
Offer the neighborhood fund — a 25%-75% discount program for land stewards who want interventions on their land but face financial barriers; priority to the highest points of the watershed and properties with the highest water retention needs
Provide equipment, tools, and fuel for each intervention — compact machinery, hand tools, and the fuel needed for earthwork on steep slopes
Install Amieiras Distillery — a publicly accessible essential oil distillery powered entirely by renewable energy. Any steward in the region can bring their harvest of rock roses, lavender, rosemary, and other aromatic plants to be processed. A new source of land-based income for everyone.
Finish and maintain retention structures so they're functional, durable, and holding water through the dry season
In two years, the properties we work on will hold more water than they release. Springs downstream will flow longer into summer. The Amieiras Distillery will be running, and neighbors who once saw scrubland as waste will see it as income. This is landcare with machines — infrastructure that heals the ground and feeds the people who live on it.
Funding Goals (all values in €)
First €5,000 — Neighborhood fund subsidies and advertising the discount program
Next €8,000 — Amieiras Distillery setup (copper still, renewable energy, processing shelter)
Next €15,000 — Earthwork interventions on headwater properties (equipment, tools, fuel, crew time)
All above €28,000 — More interventions, more distillery capacity, second round of subsidies
Budget
Neighborhood Fund (Discount Program)
Advertising the discount program to land stewards — €1,500
Subsidized discounts applied (25%-75% based on need) — ~€3,500
Interventions on Our Land
Equipment rental and transport — €4,000
Hand tools, surveying materials, marker stakes — €1,500
Fuel for earthwork machinery — €3,000
Crew labor (skilled operators for swales, check dams, roadwork-as-water-retention) — €6,000
Amieiras Essential Oil Distillery
Copper still, condenser, and separator — €3,000
Renewable energy setup (mirrors, solar panels, battery storage) — €2,500
Processing shelter and workspace — €1,500
Harvest collection tools — €1,000
Additional Interventions (if funded beyond €28,000)
Extended earthwork across more headwater properties — ~€7,000
Second round of neighborhood fund subsidies — ~€5,000
Expanded distillery capacity of different sizes for parallel operation — ~€3,000
Project updates
Team
Location
Portugal