Our story
Botanica Life Foundation was founded on 1st June 2015 by
Apostol K. Apostolov. He created the Foundation in memory of his father, grandfather, and grandmother – Kancho, Apostol and Maria – from whom he inherited a house and several plots of agricultural land in the village of Nadarevo. Led by his desire to help young people develop
their interests and potential in line with the principles of sustainable
development, he decided to provide his inherited property to
the Foundation, to be used for educating children and young people.
The Krasteff family - Kancho, Maria and Apostol
The founding act reads:
Botanica Life Foundation “... encourages the participation of young people in activities which develop respect for nature and which contribute
to a world in which people and land live together as one whole. The Foundation is founded in memory of the Krasteff family - Apostol, Maria and
Kancho who knew that land was the most precious gift of humanity and who used to pass this knowledge on to the coming generations throughout their lives“.
In 2016 Botanica Life Foundation begins the realisation of a major project through which the house provided to the Foundation will be repaired and
transformed into a training centre for children and young people, while the agricultural land will be turned into beautiful gardens for the production
of fruit and vegetables. In the new complex, children will learn how to grow fruit and vegetables, while young people will build on their professional
development in the field of sustainable agriculture.
Apostol Krasteff (left) - sitting in the yard of the cooperative farm in the village of Nadarevo.
Maria Krasteff - standing in a field with spring snowflakes (leucojum vernum), at the foot of the Shoumen plateau.
Krastjo Krasteff - Grand-grand father of the Founder of the Foundation. He was one of the Bulgarians who went to teach gardening in Hungary in the 1920's. Nowadays there is a memorial in Budapest, commemorating the contribution of the Bulgarian community to the development of the Hungarian agriculture.
Click here to read more about the story of Botanica Life, seen through the eyes of our partner – the Velux Foundations.