An ancient olive tree that has seen more winters than anyone looking for a guardian. It could be you.
You cannot buy it: nobody can. You can be its guardian.
Meet Vittoria. A trunk that three people cannot wrap their arms around. She already has her guardian.
Her guardian, Anna, gave her her name. She has a plaque on her trunk, a dedicated page, the current weather and her photographs. This is how it will be for every tree: you choose it, you give it the name you want, and you follow it from wherever you are.
Choose a tree and give it a name
The giants, the large ones, those starting now. Each one has a number, a measurement and a page like Vittoria's. You choose the name: yours, the name of someone you love, or of the person receiving it as a gift.
Your name goes on its trunk
You immediately receive the certificate by email and its page becomes yours, with your dedicated access. That is where the photo of the plaque arrives.
It writes to you when something happens
When it rains, when the mistral blows, when the olives turn black. You follow it from its page and call it by name.
We are guardians of a landscape.
Grey skin full of wrinkles, like the hand of someone who has worked all their life. Inside, the sap rises every spring just like the first year.
These are not trees to be saved. They are trees to be reached.
That is why we look for guardians, not buyers.
Hills where in July the air smells of oregano drying in the sun.
The earth sticks to your shoes. At noon, the cicadas drown out everything else. Among the trunks, in the distance, a patch of sea. Lands that for a while were left without anyone: they did not die, they waited.
From here, a tree will write to you.
From these hills, for over a hundred years, people have left. The olive trees stayed behind to hold the place.
Almost two million people, for America, for Germany, for the North, with a cardboard suitcase. We took a step back from everything that rushes, and we came back.
You can come back even from far away: as a guardian.
Trees like these, nowadays, end up on a truck heading to a northern garden, with their roots cut and a price tag. Not ours: they stay where they were born, by pact, with their roots intact and all their sun.
You don't buy it. Nobody can. You walk alongside it for a stretch of its life.
The plaque with your name goes on its trunk, and the photo appears on its page. You can find how much it costs and how it works on the pricing page.
It writes to you, by email, when something happens.
After forty days of sunshine, the rain arrived last night. This morning the earth around her is dark and has that scent you recognise with your eyes closed if you were born here. Her leaves, washed clean, have turned silver once again. The photo is on her page.
And its photographs, on its page, whenever we go to look at it.
Before you, after you. In between, your name.
Those who worked this land and those who had to leave it. Then you, in its register. Then someone else. We ask only one thing of you: call it by name, with friends, at the table, with your children.
From today, you are its guardian.
- The certificate, straight away, by email: with the tree's name and yours, ready to print in A4.
- The name of the tree, chosen by you: yours, the name of someone you love, or of the person receiving it as a gift.
- The plaque with its name, created and fixed to the trunk; as soon as possible, the photograph of the plaque on its page.
- Its page, activated straight away and reserved for you, updated with photographs, videos, news and a daily diary.
- And, one day, the right to pass it on to someone you love.
Through your guardianship we keep this grove alive and set aside for the future. One landscape at a time.
We are opening the first guardianships in 2027, in Calabria. The grove is currently under negotiation: the images on these pages are illustrations of what it will be like, and Vittoria is the example tree. Leave your name among the first guardians: we will write to you when the grove is ours and the real trees are photographed one by one. Those who sign up first choose first. No payment, no obligation.
Does the tree become mine?
No. The trees remain the property of the company that owns the grove, and no one can buy them individually. You become its guardian: the tree bears the name you give it and your name on the plaque and in the register, you have its dedicated page and you follow its life for the entire duration of the guardianship. It is a way to have a real bond with a tree without owning it and without having to move it.
Do I receive oil or anything at home?
No. The guardianship does not include shipments: the tree stays in the grove and everything you receive—the certificate, photographs, videos, and news—arrives by email and on its page. Our branded extra virgin olive oil is a separate product that you can purchase if you wish; we do not ship it to the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do I know the tree really exists?
Every tree is measured and photographed, and has a page with its name, its measurements, and the real-time weather of the grove. When you become a guardian, you will find the photograph of the plaque with your name attached to its trunk on your page. We upload photographs, videos, and news whenever possible, and you receive an email with every update. The coordinates of the grove are on the tree's page.
Can I come to see it?
Yes, by appointment. The grove is a workplace in the countryside and is not accessible by public transport: we will tell you where it is and when someone is there, and you come using your own transport. We do not organise guided tours or events.
Who answers me if I write?
Someone from the company, in Italian, German, or English. The emails you receive about the tree and the grove are written by us, and we answer your questions ourselves.
What happens if the tree dies?
An ancient olive tree is very resilient, but a disease, a frost, or a fire can take away even a three-century-old tree. If that happens, nature will have taken its course and you will have cared for it until its last day: we will tell you right away, with a photograph. We never replace a tree without telling you.
Can I choose the name of the tree?
Yes. Every tree arrives with a number; you give it its name when you become a guardian: your own, your wife's or husband's, a child's, or the person you are giving it to. The name goes on the plaque, on the certificate, and in the register, and stays with the tree for the entire guardianship.
What happens at the end of the guardianship?
The guardianship does not renew automatically and nothing is asked of you. You can let it end, or pass it on to another person, for example a child or a friend: the tree remains the same and your name stays in its register.
Are the images on the site real?
Not yet. The grove is under negotiation and until it is ours we cannot show it: the images on these pages are illustrations of what it will be like, and Vittoria is an example tree. When the grove is ours, we will photograph the real trees one by one and notify those who have left their name.