Making connections - 150 kilometers close

The Wildlings Atento and Perto are made to warm our feet through the winter while telling a story of closeness. They tell of places, people and ecosystems that create connections and enable closeness.

The starting point: a rewilded stretch of land, a safe habitat for shepherds and their sheep as well as for wild wolves. A place that creates links between raw materials and product, between the Wildlings Atento and Perto and the wool needed for their production.

Rewilding Portugal x Wildling – Anna’s Journey

The idea of regenerative action has connected Wildling with the nature conservation organization Rewilding Europe for years. This goal finds a new form in the cooperation with Rewilding Portugal first the Perto model and now for Atento.

At the beginning of this cooperation, there was a journey. Wildling founder Anna visited the Rewilding Portugal team and together they roamed the Côa Valley, one of the regions where Rewilding Portugal is actively involved in rewilding. In conversation with the Rewilding Portugal team, Anna learned that their work in the Côa Valley focuses on, among other things, a herd protection initiative to help the local shepherds establish a peaceful coexistence with the wolves.

Wolves and wool?

In order to enable a good coexistence in an functional ecosystem, among other things, guard dogs and fence building materials are needed, as well as educational work to create more acceptance for the wolves.

Anna was not only able to explore the Côa Valley during her visit to Portugal, but she also got to know shepherds personally who are part of the program and gained an insight into their way of life.

How a local value chain emerges

"How can Wildling and Rewilding Portugal join forces and contribute to the regenerative transformation?" This question accompanied Wildling founder Anna every step of the way during her visit to Portugal.

And then the answer was actually quite obvious: many fall/winter Wildlings are made of wool. Why not buy and process wool from shepherds inside the Côa Valley? "If Wildling buys the otherwise hard-to-sell wool at a very fair price, then the shepherds will benefit from this additional source of income," says Anna's idea. From this initial idea, many other questions and challenges arose for Anna, such as: 

If we buy wool here, how can we process it?

"Through Rewilding Portugal, we were able to get in touch with a wool laundry and spinning mill. Very few wool laundries still exist in Europe, so it's very fortunate that there is one right there locally," Anna reflects. The spinning mill supplies the nearby Ecola weaving mill, with which Wildling already collaborates for other models.

"This meant that the entire wool supply chain was secured regionally: from raw material to sorting, washing and spinning to the weaving mill, and then from the weaving mill the finished textile goes directly to Wildling production, which has been located in Portugal since our very first shoe," Anna explains. "So we've managed to fit all the stages of the supply chain into a manageable area within a radius of just 150 kilometers. And it all comes together in Atento and Perto as a shoe."

Since then, the project has continued to develop: not only is there now a local project coordinator on site who visits all the shepherds two to three times a season and pays particular attention to animal welfare and ecology. We have also been able to buy almost twice as much wool for Wildling Atento as for Perto, which also supports the shepherds financially.