Regeneration of Mertola, Portugal
Where real estate meets agriculture to regenerate a region: Sioly became part of the Mertola Regeneration Initiative in September 2019 to bring the idea of having a physical center and “heart” of the initiative to life.
Why is the initiative so important and what does it consist of? Mertola, a municipality in the south-east of Alentejo in Portugal suffers from desertification and degraded soils, leaving local farmers with little work and enticing its young population to seek opportunities elsewhere. Essential ecosystems need to be re-installed to undo desertification and depopulation. The citizen-led initiative involves everyone, from government entities, to schools, landowners and farmers just to name a few to truly catapult change from within. The goals are multi-faceted: encourage regenerative agricultural practices, raise community awareness for the need to change patterns of product and consumption, promote innovation within local entrepreneurs to work with locally-sourced materials, establish a food network that connects farmers practicing regenerative agriculture to local schools and others, and support the settlement of young people through the regeneration of abandoned agricultural areas.
Some of the initiative's already under way are:
Promoting vegetable gardens in schools based on the principles of syntropic agriculture
Creating demonstration plots for regenerative techniques (3 ha agricultural area has already been regenerated within a year and now converting 76 ha area)
Studying local plants through the creation of a seedbank and nursery
Establishing various training programs to connect skilled workers and volunteers with the land with a focus on regeneration
Sioly is now building the financial mechanism for the Mertola Regeneration Initiative to obtain financing and acquire a building that brings all of above mentioned initiatives, along with a local food network, small producers logistics center and a community kitchen under one roof. The initiative’s “heart” will serve as an education, demonstration, and innovation hub.