Monte Velho is a family run, self-sustaining retreat centre with a strong passion for reconnecting its visitors with nature. It is dedicated to hosting retreats that promote healthy living and the education of sustainable living.

A sharing space and a holistic learning centre. We want to share our experience with our guests so that everyone can benefit from reconnecting with Nature, protecting it and integrating it in a sustainable way in our life and daily practices. It is a daily learning experience and the changes each person makes in his or her lifestyle happen gradually. We are always open to learning from other people’s experiences. New ideas and projects on sustainability are more than welcome. We aim to inspire others to do more and better for the health of our planet and for the future of new generations. We strive for a sustainable approach to energy, water, waste management, building and environmental awareness, which is why we are constantly seeking to improve the quality of our services and getting there with less environmental impact. The Monte Velho Retreat Centre´s commitment to sustainability is embedded in our DNA – it is who we are, what we do and how we do it. We are in sync with our clients, staff and other stakeholders who think the same way and who really want to reduce their social and environmental impact to do the same.

– Use of traditional building techniques and materials
– Use of renewable energy sources
– Enhancement of local biodiversity
– Contribution to the conservation of local natural resources
– Respect of the local architectural and landscaping contexts, using natural
sources of material from the site
– Efficient use of water through water collection and smart consumption
– Reduced impact on natural surroundings during construction of new
facilities
– Motivation and training of the team to ensure that each element is empowered to do his or her best in terms of sustainable practices at work
– Green procurement: choosing the suppliers that ensure their own sustainable practices and products.

65% of the Center’s energy consumption comes from renewable sources. Photovoltaic solar panels power the main house and a solar water heating system provides hot
water from collector panels. The outdoor and indoor lighting uses LED technology. The heating and cooling in the rooms and other buildings is very stable thanks to the
taipa (rammed earth) technique , a traditional construction method which uses local materials such as mud and stones, as well as straw bale as insulation – these natural
elements ensure a comfortable and insulated temperature and ambiance inside the rooms buildings all year round.

Our project at Monte Velho started with the reforestation of 30 hectares, around 10.000 trees were planted back in 1997, mostly umbrella pine trees, cork trees, and strawberry trees. The land had been abandoned and wild for more than 20 years, it was infested by invasive species such as acacias and eucalyptus trees, the soil was very poor with lots of stones and little water. As a first step to revitalize the land, we built a lake to collect the rainwater. Without water we knew that nothing was possible… While we were digging the lake with machines, we used the clay and stones to build the main walls of Monte Velho. After two winters the lake was almost full of water and the wildlife began to return to the land. We could hear the birds singing again, frogs croaking, and the resurgence of rabbits, foxes, wild boars, all happy to share the land with us. The firewood burned in our boilers to heat rooms and buildings in winter comes from trees from our land, such as acacia and eucalyptus, invasive species that need to be removed, in a sustainable way, every year. We have also managed to improve the composition of the forest by planting native species, such as oaks, arbutus or cork oaks, and we use those that are more adapted to local climatic conditions and, therefore, more resistant to pests, diseases, long periods of drought, forest fires or heavy rain. In addition, this type of reforestation contributes to the mitigation of climate change and to the enhancement of biodiversity. In the winter of 2018, we started a fruit tree project in terraces whereby 180 fruit trees and wind protection trees were planted. The terraces are essential in maintaining the rain water in the area for longer periods, providing more humidity around the trees and hopefully a happy fruit harvest in a few years.

In our 34 hectares we have a big plantation of umbrella pine trees, which produce delicious pine nuts. The trees are now almost 20 years old, and the last years we have had good harvests during the winter time. Pine nuts are a very tasty dried fruit widely used in Mediterranean cuisine. We have the dream to have a local production to use them in our kitchen and sell them at Monte Velho shop. A herd of goats are helping us to maintain the property since they graze and eat the dry bushes around the bigger trees thus contributing to avoid bush fires during the summer/dry season. The pigs and chickens fertilize the soil around the trees.

– One of our main concerns is water management. This part of Portugal is very dry, and the climate change challenge has led to more prolonged periods of drought, which forces us to make a very strict management of water consumption and use. The ability to use water more efficiently is achieved by treating grey water at our own sewer plant. Rain water is also stored along with all other water sources for maximum water recovery and sent to our ponds and lakes for the irrigation of the Fruit trees terraces and vegetable gardens.

We aim to inspire others to do more and better for the health of our planet and for the future of new generations. We strive for a sustainable approach to energy, water, waste management, building and environmental awareness, which is why we are constantly seeking to improve the quality of our services and getting there with less environmental impact.

The Monte Velho Retreat Centre´s commitment to sustainability is embedded in our DNA – it is who we are, what we do and how we do it.

We do it together with the commitment of our staff and stakeholders.

STOKE is the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoors Kit for Evaluation.

It´s the world’s first sustainability certification body with standards built specifically for surf and ski tourism operators, destinations, and affiliated events.

Sustainability is the ride of our life. Going over the ledge and dropping in is intimidating, the ride is technical and demanding, but ultimately exhilarating. The STOKE process will help us navigate the hazards.

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We spend our lives paying lots of different taxes, and some are fair and useful; others we sometimes disagree and feel bad when you need to pay them because they don’t go with our values or we don’t trust the people managing our community money.

1% for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual revenue to environmental causes to protect the environment. The aim is to offer accountability, prevent greenwashing and “certify reputable giving”.

1% for the planet is a way of expressing our gratitude to our beautiful planet, the earth where we live, and should take care of.

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We offset the carbon derivate from our operation through Drawa Forest Project.

The Drawa Forest Project is an initiative that enables indigenous peoples in Fiji to forgo commercial logging and save their forests. The project aims to protect 4,144 hectares of forest area on Vanua Levu, the second-largest island in Fiji.

The project area belongs to eight mataqali, or Fijian clans, who came together to form the Drawa Block Forest Communities Cooperative, which helped establish a protected area through a conservation lease to carry out improved forest management practices.

The project, as part of the Nakau Programme and owned by indigenous land owners, protects over 4,000 ha of tropical rainforest in Vanua Levu, Fiji. It helps the Fijian clans to protect their rainforests, therefore providing greater resilience against climate change, and also form community businesses including honey enterprises

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