Miguel COTTON

FOUNDER, AGROECOLOGY ENTHUSIAST, Tavira, Portugal

Miguel Cotton founded in 1994 a tour operator (Continents Insolites) established in Belgium and France and specialized in the creation and marketing of high-end tailor-made discovery trips. His current professional activities include teaching at the University of Brussels and the development of educational activities related to agroecology.

He visited and took part in many agroecological sites throughout the world (Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia,…). He studied permaculture in Ireland (Permaculture Design Certificate) and in Denmark (Permaculture Educators’ course). His main focus area is how to implement science-driven agroecological practices to fruit production.

Milan NEPALI

JUNIOR GARDEN STEWARD, Tavira, Portugal

Born in Nepal, Milan has developed a deep connection with nature since his childhood, spent in a beautiful village just in sight of the Annapurnas.

As the steward of the botanical garden, his role involves understanding and managing the various factors that contribute to the health and balance of the whole botanical garden ecosystem. These include, among others, soil composition, water management, pest and disease control, as well as the control of weeds. Never losing sight of those elements, Milan’s daily work revolves around optimizing processes and maintaining a natural balance that promotes the health and vitality of the garden.

Dror AVITAL

SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, Faro, Portugal

Dror Avital is a plant biologist who is contributing significantly to the development of the Botanical Garden. He has extensive experience in Agricultural Development Projects worldwide.

Born in the Judean Mountain's region of Israel, Dror holds a degree in Plant Biology from the Agricultural Department of the Hebrew University, specializing in plant protection and biological agents.

Driven by a mission to establish robust and sustainable food production systems that directly enhance the livelihoods of local communities, Dror has led successful cultivation projects in diverse locations, including India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Portugal, and Israel. In 2019, Dror immigrated to Portugal to establish Grovida SA, the largest medical marijuana farm in Europe. With a wealth of experience and a commitment to fostering positive change, Dror is now assisting the Orchard of Flavours Botanical Garden. He fully agrees with our mission: cultivating more fruit trees locally, adjusting to climate change and sharing knowledge.

Dror is helping us develop a rigorous scientific framework for propagating and fertilizing our fruit trees. He is also the instructor of many of our fruit tree academy workshops, covering fruit tree maintenance (pruning and fertilizing) and the propagation of fruit trees. Do not hesitate to contact him at avitaldror@gmail.com.

Dave NORWOOD

ADVISOR, Tavira, Portugal

Although he never really gets his hands dirty, Dave first planted a coconut garden in Mahaballipuram, Tamil Nadu in the mid 90’s and was amazed that 45 (out of 60) survived the terrible tsunami of 2004.

For decades he has been haphazardly planting and enjoying trees across the world, banana and coconut in the Bahamas, olive and almond in Spain, walnut and sweet chestnut in France, apple and pear in Ireland, before retiring to an ancient cider orchard in Devon, England. When not planting trees, he became a chess grandmaster and entrepreneur, helping set up companies like IP Group, Oxford Science Enterprises and Oxford Nanopore.

Finally he moved with his young family to the East Algarve in 2020, and fell in love with citrus fruit, enjoying his orange and tangerine orchard. Having met Miguel, he is now observing his own garden become more diverse and exotic. He is delighted to live close to the Orchard of Flavours and will do everything he can to make this magnificent project succeed (without of course getting his hands dirty).

Miguel PEREIRA

AGROECOLOGY ENTHUSIAST and DIGITAL MARKETER, Viana do Castelo and Sesimbra, Portugal

Miguel (we call him Junior) is a young Portuguese nature lover. After working for some years in Online Marketing in Lisbon, he decided to quit so he could travel Asia, and ended up finding a new calling while participating at Agroecological projects in Vietnam and Thailand, as well as Portugal. He took a PDC near Bangkok and since has attended many workshops and courses on horticulture, agroforestry and agroecology.

He is a huge asset to the Orchard of Flavours project and combines rare qualities: a passion for nature preservation, a great sense of rigour, and an insatiable and enthusiastic willingness to learn. He is our copywriter and works on the digital communication of our garden.

Luís AFONSO

AGROECOLOGY and AGROFORESTRY ENTHUSIAST, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, and FOUNDER at THE BIGGEST MINI FOREST, Almada e Alcoutim, Portugal

Luís is an Electrical Engineer who studied and worked in many different countries. Now he is focused on leaving a positive impact in the World, through agroecology, permaculture, syntropic agriculture and agroforestry.

His dedication to soil, ecosystem regeneration and sustainability is relentless. He has visited numerous projects in Portugal and designed and implemented some others. He is also one of the main contributors to our research about the root systems of fruit trees.

He is most interested in helping communities, schools and municipalities to create communal food forests, and the development of large-scale commercial agroforestry systems. You can contact him directly on +351 926 854 159, or through the website of his exciting project, The Biggest Mini Forest.

Jackson KNIGHTS

AGROECOLOGY ENTHUSIAST, Tavira, Portugal

Jackson, originally from the Subtropics of Australia, has a background in Horticulture, Conservation and Land Management. He has completed the Permaculture Design certification and Teacher Training and has been part of a number of growing projects throughout Central America, India and now Portugal. He likes to create planned, edible landscapes which pay respect to the natural features of the land. You can check out his website www.yatridesigns.com
Some of his passions include eating fruit from Orchard of Flavours, watching trees grow, playing music and discovering new environments.