Lukas Sommer

Matagal - Associação para a Natureza e Cultura stewards 11 hectares at Vale de Água da Serra in southwest Portugal, home to four families. We are a community of practice rooted in permaculture's three ethics: care for the planet, care for people, fair share. Our work is native reforestation, water retention in the landscape, regenerative land care, and hands-on environmental education that brings people into close relationship with natural processes. In August 2023 wildfire swept our entire valley, destroying our tree nursery, water systems, and young reforestation. We are rebuilding; not as it was, but more resilient: holding water in the land, growing local native trees, and designing the valley to meet fire differently.