Monte Alegre Foundation

Fundación Monte Alegre (FMA) is a nonprofit dedicated to the ecological and social restoration of the Espinal forest in southern Córdoba, Argentina. Founded in 2016 and legally established in 2024, FMA operates around a 97-hectare private nature reserve used as an open-air classroom for community engagement. The Espinal is an endemic ecosystem critically endangered — only 3% of its original cover remains due to agricultural expansion. This loss has not only degraded the ecosystem, but severed the cultural identity and memory that local communities once held with this landscape. FMA addresses both dimensions simultaneously, involving schools, municipalities, businesses, universities, and the general public in restoration and environmental awareness activities. Through experiential learning in the reserve, FMA reconnects communities, and especially children, with the living memory of the Espinal, fostering a new generation of environmental stewards.