Rescue and restore an ancient olive grove in Spain

Aim

Help us rescue an ancient olive grove in Jaén, Andalucía. 126 centenary trees, 1.3 hectares, and a chance to restore this land together.

The Grove

The olive grove next to ours is for sale. 126 centenary olive trees. 1.3 hectares. In the heart of Jaén, Andalucía, the world capital of olive oil.

The farmer who owns it is ill with cancer. He can no longer work the land and needs to sell as he has no one to take over him.

If we do not buy it, the chances of these trees surviving are slim. In Jaén, ancient groves are being cleared at an alarming rate, either to make way for intensive plantations that allow mechanical harvesting, or to install photovoltaic parks. In the province alone, nearly 20% of traditional olive-growing land has already been converted to intensive systems. Nationally, 6.6% of land now occupied by solar parks was previously ancient olive grove.

In both cases, the land will be heavily treated with chemicals, and eventually, the soil will die.

We therefore want to rescue this land, its ancient trees and their ecosystem, before it is too late.

Who We Are

A few months ago, I was working in the groves at sunrise. Looking over at the neighbouring trees, I started thinking about what would happen to them once sold. That is when the idea came to me: a collective rescue plan to protect and restore this land, like we did with ours.

I am Philippine, co-founder of Solivida, a small family business producing premium extra virgin olive oil and promoting regenerative agriculture in Andalucía. 

Our olive groves are in Jaén and have been in my partner's family for generations. Between 2020 and 2023, Andalucía suffered severe droughts. We lost over 70% of our harvest, three years in a row. My father-in-law who has farmed our 10 hectares for 40 years was growing disheartened and began talking about selling. That is when our project was born.

We changed everything. We started pressing and bottling our own oil, gradually leaving the cooperative model, and launched Solivida, on maternity and paternity leave, at the same time as our son Óliver was born. 

We also began transitioning our groves to organic and regenerative farming. In June 2026, after three years of work, we received our official organic certification. We witnessed our groves come back to life and we are ready to do it all over again, for the grove next door.

I am currently an apprentice farmer under my father-in-law, learning everything I can from his four decades caring for this land. I am also in my second year of a regenerative olive farming course. Only 3% of farm holders in the EU are women under 40 and I would like to become one of them.

Our home is in London for now. All our profits are reinvested into our groves. When the time is right, we will move to Andalucía, carry the family tradition forward, and use Solivida to help local farmers transition to more sustainable and resilient models.

What We Will Do With The Funds

The farmer is asking for 65,000€ (£55,714), and that is what we would like to give him.

65,000€ for 126 centenary trees: roughly 515€ or £440 per tree.

We are raising in pounds as our campaign is hosted in the UK. The purchase will be made in euros directly to the farmer.

Our initial fundraising target is £43,000 (50,000€), enough to make a credible offer. Our stretch goal is the full £55,714, covering the farmer's asking price in its entirety. Every pound raised beyond our initial target brings us closer to it.

Any legal fees and taxes will be covered by us personally. Reward costs will be absorbed by our business Solivida. Every pound raised goes directly to the farmer.

If we do not reach our target, every contribution will be fully refunded.

Once we own the grove, we will immediately begin its transition to certified organic and regenerative farming: no synthetic inputs, cover cropping to rebuild soil health, and full ecosystem restoration across 1.3 hectares, all documented and reported back to you throughout the year.

The Impact

The soil: Conventional olive farming in Jaén relies heavily on herbicides and bare soil management, which progressively destroys soil biology. Regenerative practices, cover cropping, compost, zero tillage, rebuild soil organic matter and restore microbial life. Research by IFAPA, Andalusia's agricultural research institute, found that soil managed regeneratively can increase its carbon content by up to 30% over ten years.

The trees: Centenary olive trees are living ecosystems in their own right, hosting insects, birds, and microorganisms that younger intensive plantations cannot support. Healthier soil means healthier roots, more resilient trees, and oil with higher polyphenol content.

Biodiversity: The EU-funded LIFE Olivares Vivos project found that biodiversity-focused farming in Spanish olive groves boosted species diversity by 7-12% among birds, ants, bees and plants within three years. Organic groves with cover crops support up to 28 plant species compared to just 8 in conventional groves.

Carbon: IFAPA found that one hectare of traditional olive grove absorbs between 2.5 and 5.6 tonnes of CO2 per year. Regenerative management amplifies this by increasing the carbon stored in soil as well as tree biomass.

The bigger picture: Jaén is home to 66 million olive trees, the largest man-made forest on Earth. If regenerative practices were adopted across even a fraction of this landscape, the cumulative impact would be extraordinary.

We started with 10 hectares and 1,100 trees. We are adding 1.3 hectares and 126 more. It is a small number in a landscape of 66 million. But every grove that transitions is a proof of concept, and proof of concepts have a way of spreading.

Our hope is that one day, regenerative farming will be the norm in Jaén, and we won't stop until that happens.

Funding method

All or nothing – this project will only receive pledges if it reaches its target of £43,000 by 31st October 2026 at 6:00pm