Thank you for taking an interest in my permaculture food forest project, the reason behind the launch of my GoFund me page.
I strongly believe that we need to act now to help nature regenerate. Over the past century, we have placed enormous pressure on our planet’s resources and its ability to restore itself. If we want to leave a healthy world for future generations, we need to rethink the way we live, farm, and care for our landscapes. We need solutions to urbanisation, fossil fuel dependence, intensive monoculture farming, and the widespread use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers.
For many years, I worked behind a desk, also helping to advance initiatives around the energy transition, climate adaptation, nature conservation, and water management. While that work was valuable, I realised that lasting change also requires practical examples that people can see, learn from, and replicate. If we want change, we need to be part of it.
Over the past years, I invested in developing my skills in permaculture, and increased my knowledge about agroforestry, and syntropic farming. In 2025, I left my comfortable life in the Netherlands, and bought a piece of land in southwest France—one of the fastest-warming regions in Europe. My goal is to transform it into a thriving, biodiverse food forest that demonstrates how regenerative land management can restore ecosystems while producing healthy food.
This project isn’t just about my own land. My ambition is to inspire and support others by sharing knowledge, teaching practical skills, and showing what is possible. I want Val de Foy to become a living example of regeneration in action.
As I continue building the project and developing sustainable income streams, I could really use your support. Your donation will help me plant a diverse range of trees and shrubs, improve the soil, and create water-retaining features such as a pond and marshland that increase biodiversity and resilience.
The land I’m restoring was once part of one of France’s most fertile regions. Today, it faces increasingly severe droughts, heatwaves, and unpredictable weather. During this summer, I’ve seen farmers rip out all their vineyards, that their families ran for decades, because the plants are simply dying by lack of water.
Turning heavy clay pasture into a self-sustaining food forest, for a former city girl, is challenging. Young trees need care through their first years, and the soil must be transformed from winter waterlogging and summer-hard concrete into rich, living soil. But once established, a healthy forest creates its own microclimate, improves water retention, supports wildlife, and becomes increasingly self-sustaining.
The transformation of my land has already begun. Even during periods of temperatures above 40°C, my land is attracting wild bees, butterflies, birds, and countless other forms of life, just by letting nature do what it does. Every small project on my land helps create better conditions for nature to flourish.
If my vision inspires you, I would be incredibly grateful for your support. Instead of buying me flowers, a birthday gift, or a Christmas present, please consider making a small donation to help restore this little corner of the planet. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps bring this project one step closer to becoming a place that inspires others to regenerate the land around them.
And if you’re ever in southwest France, you’re always welcome to visit Val de Foy and see the progress for yourself.
