Saara Kankaanrinta and Ilkka Herlin bought Qvidja in 2014. The couple spent a long time looking for a farm where they could experiment how food and energy could be produced in a way that curbs emissions and sequesters carbon while cycling nutrients. Qvidja became a pilot farm for all of this. The purchase came with cultural heritage comprising a Medieval stone castle and dozens of buildings as well as invaluable and interesting history – and probably not by coincidence because both of them are historians by education.

As the co-founders of the BSAG Foundation, Soilfood Oy and Q Power, they both have worked for the climate and the Baltic Sea. At Qvidja, they continue their work, which is guided by maximising biodiversity and carbon sequestration.