Manu Manu Riforesta! has been active since 2020 in the Paduli area, once occupied by the Belvedere Forest, an ancient woodland replaced by olive monoculture that is now destroyed by the CoDiRO phenomenon and the Xylella bacterium and left in a state of abandonment, with devastating consequences for the agricultural economy, the landscape, and biodiversity. Together with its volunteers, the association carries out agro-forestry activities and the care and maintenance of the existing olive trees, in order to restore biodiversity that has also been compromised by the reckless use of pesticides and by devastating fires. It collaborates with numerous local associations, with the municipalities of Miggiano, Montesano Salentino, and Ruffano, which the areas of the ZSC (Special Conservation Zone) Padula Mancina fall within — of which Manu Manu Riforesta! owns and cares for a portion, Bosco Don Tommaso, made up of a temporary pond and a small elm wood, a precious green oasis in the desert — and with the University of Salento's Botanical Garden Institute, which supports in particular the reproduction of native plant species for replanting, as well as the environmental monitoring project "MoSSHa – Monitoring of Species Sites and Habitats." It produced the documentary Le acque effimere di Padula Mancina (The Ephemeral Waters of Padula Mancina), to promote awareness and protection of the habitat of Mediterranean temporary ponds.