Beyond the tangible environmental benefits that nature provides — food, raw materials, water and clean air — a balanced and thriving natural environment also represents an opportunity to foster initiatives that create sustainable livelihoods for people. These local businesses initiatives supported by Rewilding Spain with funding prove it.
Last autumn, Rewilding Spain launched a grant call with a total budget of €17,000, aimed at supporting business projects that combine ecological sensitivity and innovation, grounding their development in a commitment to nature recovery and regeneration. Seventeen proposals were received and, ultimately, four were selected to share the available funding in varying amounts.
“We’ve been able to purchase four pairs of binoculars and a high-quality spotting scope — equipment that will make a significant difference to the experience we offer our clients. Visitors can now enjoy wildlife observation activities far more fully and without causing any disturbance.” Soraya Espinosa is the founder of El Observario, an ecotourism business based in Peñalén (Alto Tajo region) and one of the four local businesses based in the Iberian Highlands to receive financial support from Rewilding Spain to push nature-based entrepreneurship.
Upgrading equipment also enables this business to present a higher-quality offer, opening up new markets for its birdwatching activities, guided deer rut observation days and landscape interpretation walks. “It helps us to become more professional,” Soraya states.
Alongside El Observario, Bronchales Experience, Sentir el Alto Tajo and Botánica Guadiela — all located across different parts of the landscape — have also benefited from financial support. Their proposals were selected for their alignment with rewilding principles, as well as for their viability, sustainability and growth potential.
In the Sierra de Albarracín region, Bronchales Experience has likewise chosen to enhance its equipment and diversify their range of experiences offering. The company invested the grant in purchasing five e-bikes, which are already being used to organise guided routes through the Montes Universales and to provide a rental service accessible to a broader public, regardless of physical fitness. As the company’s manager, Ximo Casanova, explains, having the new bikes also promotes a model of activity that is “more sustainable, educational and aligned with respect for the natural environment”.
Parts of these routes pass through areas where rewilding actions are under way, allowing the company to add a valuable environmental education component to the experience. For this tourism practitioner, embedding such values within his business “strengthens our project’s medium- and long-term viability and growth”.
Sentir el Alto Tajo, a pioneering ecotourism enterprise in the region, continues to expand and is currently creating a multifunctional space for workshops and other participatory and educational activities. It will also serve as a meeting point for like-minded local entrepreneurs. To this end, the company began refurbishing a former shepherds’ shelter in Peralejos de las Truchas several months ago. The grant will now provide the necessary boost to construct an access ramp and carry out further improvements to the exterior of the building. “The works would have had to be postponed without this support,” says Gemma Roselló, founder of Sentir el Alto Tajo, who highlights how difficult it can be for established businesses to access funding opportunities.
In addition to the building works, Sentir el Alto Tajo has allocated part of the funding to the purchase of a telescope to strengthen its activities in the growing field of astrotourism, which is delivered through experiences such as Nocturnal Wildlife and Stars, Chozones and Stars, and the Starlight Skies Reserve in Guadalajara.
The commitment of these three businesses to quality and to rewilding has also opened the door to their inclusion on Wilder Places, the tourism booking platform created by Rewilding Europe, which showcases nature-positive travel experiences to an international audience.
Yet the opportunities linking nature and socio-economic development extend far beyond ecotourism and environmental education. In the Serranía de Cuenca region, Botánica Guadiela produces herbal teas using locally and sustainably harvested wild aromatic plants and is planning a new production line dedicated to spice blends and seasonings.
“Botánica Guadiela is a relatively new project and, as such, we are grateful for any form of support,” explains Sarka Voriskova. With funding from Rewilding Spain, this entrepreneur will purchase new machinery and invest in recycled and compostable packaging for her products. “This represents a major step towards our company’s overarching goal: full environmental sustainability,” she adds.
For decades, many people left villages in the Iberian Highlands in search of livelihoods far removed from the activities that traditionally sustained the rural economy. However, as Pablo Schapira, team leader for Rewilding Spain in the landscape, points out, “most of the people who live here want to stay, earn a living in their village and remain connected to their homeland. Nature recovery is a driving force that can help make that possible.”
Today, through initiatives such as this grant scheme, rewilding is helping local communities transform long-standing challenges into new opportunities — creating employment, supporting local enterprises and enabling nature itself to become a catalyst for rural prosperity.
Related news
- Open call: grant programme to fund nature-based businesses and start-ups in the Iberian Highlands
- Nature for people: how rewilding is revitalising lives and landscapes in the Iberian Highlands
