AAN is a private, volunteer-based, non-profit organization, which brings together enthusiasts concerned with the advance of desertification and environmental degradation.

Founded in 1977 in Mindelo, the AAN was the result of the first reforestation campaigns in S. Vicente. It had as its objectives: to develop reforestation on the island in order to fight the desertification; to sensitize the population to the preservation of the environment and their civic education in this domain; to discipline the raising of livestock, especially goats, pigs and cattle; to demonstrate (and stimulate) the viability and possibility of other activities besides trade and movement around the port of Mindelo and the main urban centers; and to encourage similar initiatives on other islands.

The wave of sympathy that surrounded the initiative was a stimulus for the associates of AAN, who thus decided in 1979 to endow it with a permanent structure and broaden its horizons and objectives, therefore formalizing the NGO.

Today, the AAN does not limit itself to fund-raising and participation in occasional reforestation campaigns.

Currently, AAN implements and manages several projects in the areas of Food Security, Human Right to Food, Agroecology, Blue Economy, Sustainable Tourism, livestock farming, etc. on several islands of Cape Vert, with a multidisciplinary team.