Alberi di Mango

Alberi di Mango was born in 2019 in the hamlet of Costa, in the municipality of San Nicolò di Comelico (Belluno), from a simple yet courageous act: the decision of a small community of 72 residents to reopen the shutters of the village’s only commercial activity, which had closed due to economic unsustainability. After an initial failed attempt, the villagers wrote a letter to the Bishop of Belluno and Feltre, who involved the local parish priest, Don Fabio Fiori, and together they proposed founding a community cooperative. A year of meetings and planning later, Alberi di Mango opened the Dolomiti di Costa: a restaurant, bar and food shop, today the only commercial activity in the area.
The cooperative’s name is inspired by a story of wisdom: an elderly man who plants mango trees knowing he will never taste their fruit, because he himself has eaten from the trees planted by his ancestors. This philosophy shapes every decision the cooperative makes: to build for future generations and to invest in the territory as an act of collective care.
Alberi di Mango operates in the Val Comelico, a mountain area classified as an inner area and characterised by serious demographic decline (the valley has lost 41.9% of its population since 1951) and the progressive closure of essential services. In this context, the cooperative has become a vital presence in the territory, steadily expanding its activities.
In Danta di Cadore, it manages Ntindalduto, a multipurpose neighbourhood shop, and the Algo da Liede library, built entirely with books donated by the community and extended into a network of little wooden shelters placed along the valley’s forest trails. Since 2022, the cooperative has also managed the school canteen for the nursery and primary school in Presenaio and offers a free home delivery service reaching every village in the Val Comelico. The next step is the opening of a new neighbourhood shop in the hamlet of Valle and the creation of guest rooms for a diffuse hospitality offer at the Dolomiti di Costa.
Alberi di Mango works actively with the valley’s Regole (the historic collective land management institutions), local parishes and numerous community associations.