Pedro Prata

Team leader Western Iberia

Pedro Prata was born in 1982 and grew up in a family farm in the central mountains of Portugal. Since childhood, he has been wandering through the grassland plateaus, venturing into the thick forests or simply sunbathing in the deep canyons of the rivers. It made him realise that there is a complex web of relations which wild nature so fruitfully shows in its many different aspects. He is passionate for nature in all its extent and a lover of outdoor sports. Pursuing this curiosity led him to an MSC in biology in the University of Lisbon, where he mostly researched the interactions between plants and fungi.

Starting an international career in 2005, he did an MSc in ecology and evolution at the Universiteit van Amsterdam which led to his research on coral reef recovery after storm damage in Curaçao, in the Caribbean. Until 2010, he lived and was involved in different projects in Brazil and the United States, and finally came back to Europe. Near his hometown there was an organisation called ATN that represented the rewilding initiative with an innovative project in Faia Brava. Convinced that this was a plausible strategy to deal with the high levels of land abandonment that raged for decades in the country’s interior, he is now taking responsibility to develop this project in a wider area, to cover the whole Côa river basin that stretches as a natural wildlife corridor and that must be carefully managed so that it can bloom in diversity, using the rewilding strategy as the model to achieve these goals.

Marta Cálix

Head of Operations

Marta Cálix was born in 1991 in Lisbon and has been interested in nature (and birds in particular) from a young age. Having studied evolutionary and developmental biology at the University of Lisbon, Marta decided to pursue an MSc in Wildlife Management and Conservation at the University of Reading in the UK. As a keen birdwatcher and ornithologist Marta has participated in several expeditions with Operation Wallacea, studying the avifauna of Guyana and Honduras, and teaching volunteers and students about the importance of long-term biodiversity monitoring schemes.

Her passion for the conservation of biodiversity led her to work at the IUCN European Regional Office in Brussels, where she participated in the compilation of several European Red Lists of Threatened Species. While at IUCN, Marta became increasingly interested in the linkages between business and biodiversity conservation, especially the potential for sustainable business models to support conservation work. This new interest led her to pursue an MBA at IE Business School in Madrid. As a result, Marta became interested in the rewilding movement in Europe, which is pioneering nature-based enterprises as part of large-scale rewilding initiatives and recently started working for Rewilding Portugal as a project manager.

Sara Aliácar

Head of Conservation

Sara Casado Aliácar was born in 1989 in Alcalá de Henares, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Spain. Passionate about living things and with the firm conviction of contributing to a better world for humans and nature, Sara decided to study a Bachelor and MSc in Environmental Sciences in her hometown. During her studies she had the opportunity of participating in projects focused on habitat restoration, environmental education and cooperation in Spain and Nicaragua, where she developed an increasing interest in nature conservation and biodiversity. She dived deeper into that path through a course in forest ecology in the University of Umeå in 2012 and an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation in the University of Leeds in 2016.

In 2013 and 2014 she worked as a wolf monitoring technician in the LIFE MEDWOLF conservation project in Portugal. With this experience, she developed an increasing interest in carnivores, human-wildlife coexistence, animal welfare and rewilding. She also felt fascinated by the Côa Valley and rural life, so naturally she got involved with the local NGO ATNatureza in 2016, where she worked for two years as Rewilding Officer and Project Manager of LIFE Landowners Club for the Conservation of Western Iberia in the private protected area of Faia Brava.

In 2019, she entered the team of Rewilding Portugal enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue working in the Côa Valley and at a broader scale, based on a rewilding strategy.

Rui Martins

Head of Finance 

Rui Martins was born in 1972 in Guiné-Bissau, his family origins are from Vila do Touro, a village in the municipality of Sabugal, District of Guarda. Since childhood, he has always had intensive contact with his origins and culture.

He has a degree in Management, a postgraduate degree in Management Control, an MBA and a Master (MSc) in Management.

He has solid experience in Management positions, with strong skills in Startups, Reorganization and Restructuring, HR, IT, Team & Project & Operations Management, always in high competitive markets.

After a successful career of more than 26 years in Multinational companies, he brings all this experience to contibute to continuous growth of Rewilding Portugal project and team.

Fernando Teixeira

Head of Communication and Enterprise

Fernando Teixeira is 27 years old and was born in Fundão, and therefore knows quite well the Greater Côa Valley region. He began his career as a journalist at a very young age, and still retains these duties.

He completed his law degree at the Faculty of Law of the Universidade do Porto and his  Masters in Management at UBI. Is now student of the doctorate program in Agribusiness and Sustainability at Universidade de Évora/UTAD.

He has experience in several local and reference journals, having previously been director of a university newspaper and published three books of his own.

His dynamic and proactive attitude towards the media will be his focus in this function.

André Couto

Conservation Officer

André Couto was born in 1990 in the center of Portugal, where he grew up exploring some of the oldest protected areas in the country, and helping with the traditional farming practiced by his family. Years later, his interest in zoology led to a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Applied Ecology at the University of Aveiro. During his studies, his passion for amphibians and reptiles took him to places like the brazilian Amazon or the mayan jungle of Calakmul. The contact with these truly wild and diverse places fueled his will to work in nature conservation and contribute to the restoration of natural landscapes in Europe.

In 2015, back in Portugal for his master’s thesis, he had the opportunity to live and work in Montesinho Natural Park, experiencing one of the most complete ecosystems in the country, with wolves and large herbivores, which evidenced the importance of natural processes and rewilding in creating opportunities for the environment and people. Between 2016 and 2018 he applied this philosophy as a conservation officer for the municipality of Lousada, in northwestern Portugal, where he worked with several groups of vertebrates, managing priority habitats for threathened species and collaborating in the creation of local protected areas.

André happily joined the Rewilding Portugal team in 2019, hoping to contribute to a wilder future in the Côa Valley and a better coexistence between man and nature.

Carlos Santos

Entreprise Officer

Miguel Pontes

Surveillance team

Miguel Pontes was born in 1990 in Porto, where he grew up in proximity to the sun and nature.

Since he was young he has been passionate about mountaineering and camping, having spent a large part of his free time between surfing on the northern beaches and hiking in the Peneda-Gerês National Park.

He had professional experience in several areas, from mechatronics to education, including health and human care.

After living seven years in England, where he discovered the importance of conservation through participation in projects developed by NGOs, he decided to return to Portugal to explore the historic and rural traditions of the centre region of Portugal, and make his contribution to the environment.

Miguel joined the Rewilding Portugal team in 2020, with the aim of contributing to the preservation of biodiversity and for a more sustainable coexistence.

Gonçalo Matos

Herd Manager

Gonçalo Martins de Matos was born in Guarda in 1996, and from a very young age has accompanied his father in the management of cattle in Quinta do Tabalião, which aroused his interest to, at the academic level, embark on the Higher Technical Course in Biological Agricultural Production and attending the Degree in Agricultural Engineering.

His interest in the conservation and protection of wild fauna and flora comes from his great passion for hunting, a tradition that has existed in the family for several generations, which led him to discover a large part of the Iberian territory on hunting days. The slopes of the Côa are quite familiar to him due to the numerous partridge and woodcock hunts carried out there and the higher hunting level in the correction of densities in the international Tagus area.

During the closed seasons, it develops activities to preserve key species, providing them with food, water and improving habitats in order to promote their reproduction. He joined the Rewilding Portugal team in order to combine his passion for nature with his professional activity.

Pedro Ribeiro

Field Officer

Pedro Ribeiro was born in 1995 in the district of Setúbal. From an early age he became interested in wildlife and spent hundreds of hours watching wildlife documentaries.

He entered the University of Évora and graduated in Animal Science and Technology doing his final internship, in 2016, in a small Zoo and Wild Bird Hospital in England. A passion for nature conservation led him to take a Masters degree in Conservation Biology in the same city.

During his academic career, he became interested in ornithology, having participated in numerous national bird censuses, and has several years of experience as a ringer and as nature guide.

In 2021, he joined Rewilding Portugal’s  team with the intention of contributing to the conservation of scavenger birds in Portugal and to help in the rewilding of the Greater Côa Valley, restoring the stability and maturity of wild ecosystems, benefiting the entire food chain.

Marta Vieira

Veterinarian

Marta Vieira was born in 1983 in Northern Portugal. She has always had contact with animals and practiced nature activities such as hiking or mountain biking. Her relationship with domestic animals led her to pursue a master’s degree in veterinary medicine at the University of Lisbon. After several years working in a companion animal clinic, she completed a Masters in Clinical Ethology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and dedicated herself to consulting on animal behavior with the aim of improving the relationship between animals and their families.

With her work at Rewilding Portugal, she seeks to contribute to the conservation of Nature and the improvement of biodiversity, promoting animal and human well-being.

Sofia Capelo

Administrative Assistant

Sofia Capelo was born in Guarda in 1982, having spent most of her life in a village in the county.

Despite all her education having passed through the area of Arts and History and her professional experience being more than 10 years in the trade market, it was in the context of work indirectly linked to sports that she acquired the love by walking in nature.

Passionate about discovering landscapes and their history, hobbies of her spare time, she joined Rewilding Portugal´s project at the end of 2021 as an administrator, where she hopes to make her small contribution to conservation and the organization.

Rui Marques

Head of Machinery

Nuno Paixão

Field Operative

Alexandra Oliveira

Rewilding Center Manager

Abel Coito

Ribeira do Mosteiro Responsible

Lurdes Coito

Ribeira do Mosteiro Responsible

Rui Santos

Surveillance Team

Edmilton Vaz

Finance Officer

Antónioo Letras

Field Operative

Tiago Pinho

Project Manager

With a degree in Engineering, Tiago has been working for several years in project management for various institutions at national and international level.

His passion for nature led him over time to expand his knowledge of related topics and eventually to complete a Master’s degree in Agroecology. At Rewilding Portugal he is responsible for project management, seeking to contribute with his motivation and earned experience to the implementation of actions aimed at nature conservation alongside local communities and in rural contexts.