We are building a community of researchers, naturalists, and passionate volunteers committed to restoring and expanding one of Italy's most extraordinary wild landscapes. Our work is grounded in Active Custody — a living approach to conservation that combines care, knowledge, and action. It means stepping into the landscape, understanding its rhythms, supporting its recovery, and creating the conditions for nature to flourish over the long term.
From joining field activities and supporting wildlife monitoring to contributing to scientific research or helping us grow our conservation programmes, there is a place for everyone who wants to make a difference. Our ambition is bold: to protect and connect 5,000 hectares of wild Maremma, creating a landscape where forests, wildlife, and people can coexist for generations to come. The future of wild Italy depends on what we choose to protect today.
At the heart of the Maremma, La Roccaccia di Montauto and its surrounding nature reserve form a remarkable living archive of nature and human history. For more than eight centuries, this territory has been shaped by a continuous relationship between people and the land. Its story reaches even further back: evidence of human presence, including Lower Paleolithic tools, reveals a landscape that has witnessed hundreds of thousands of years of change.
Today, ancient forests, rivers, ruins, and open habitats create a mosaic of exceptional ecological value. The landscape is managed as a living ecosystem, with careful forestry practices and long-term stewardship supporting biodiversity, soil health, and the resilience of natural habitats. Here, conservation is not about freezing the past. It is about understanding the deep history of the land and ensuring that its ecological and cultural richness can endure into the future.
Safeguarding ancient Maremma woodland through sustainable forestry care — optimising carbon sequestration, mitigating climate-intensified fire risks, and maintaining the ecosystem as a robust carbon sink across 220 hectares.
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Creating safe ecological corridors for the Italian wolf (lupo appenninico), cinghiale, daino, capriolo, volpe, and 250+ vertebrate species. Our goal: a 5,000-hectare corridor — Italy's largest private nature reserve.
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Preserving historic gardens and native plant species — holm oak (leccio), cork oak (sughera), strawberry tree (corbezzolo) — alongside a Seed Bank at Villa Drago for genetic preservation of indigenous Mediterranean flora.
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Stabilising and restoring La Roccaccia di Montauto — an XI–XIII century fortress built by the Aldobrandeschi, shaped by the Orsini, and proposed as a Byzantine colony by Anna Paleologa in 1472. Eight centuries, actively protected.
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Facilitating biodiversity research at Villa Drago s Scientific Hub and Fungarium — built atop 10–15 km of Roman tunnels dating from the 1st to 3rd centuries — and creating a dedicated centre for the study, documentation, and conservation of the Italys extraordinary biodiversity.
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Sharing our Active Custody philosophy with volunteers, students, and all who value the deep connection between Italian nature and living history. True conservation requires a dedicated community committed to long-term environmental resilience.
Read MoreFrom the ancient ruins of the Maremma to the Roman tunnels beneath Villa Drago — each initiative advances our mission of Active Custody.
Preserving the historic ruins of La Roccaccia di Montauto while restoring the surrounding landscape as a thriving refuge for wildlife. By acquiring neighbouring estates—including Castello del Pelagone—we aim to establish a continuous 5,000-hectare nature reserve, creating the largest privately owned protected landscape in Italy.
Discover the ReserveBuilt atop 10–15 km of I–III century AD Roman tunnels (latomie), Villa Drago houses Montauto University, a Botanical Garden of local and Roman flora, a Research Centre, a Scientific Fungarium reclaiming the ancient galleries, and a vital Seed Bank.
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Dedicated to building a future for environmental studies and biodiversity research — a hub that connects our Maremma field stations with academic institutions, local communities, and international researchers. Our mission is to advance knowledge, protect biodiversity, and foster sustainable practices through science, education, and collaboration.
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