An ecosystem restoration community focused on action and impact.
Join us on this journey!
We are a group of changemakers with a wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives, skill sets, and experiences who have come together to address the ongoing challenges related to ecosystem degradation in the southwestern Algarve. Through effective planning, taking action, and growing our impact, we are working to assure improved soil quality, water availability, biodiversity, and local livelihoods.
We first came together in late 2024 to begin this regenerative journey, with an initial meeting and collaborative ideation session to kick start our work. Now in 2025, we will becoming increasingly active and engaged as we work to define and implement our collective impact strategy for our bioregion.
Read more to learn about us and our work, and consider joining an upcoming event to become an active part of our community. We will also be adding a resource section to this page as it becomes the central hub for our community and actions.
Join us on
this journey!
This community is facilitated by Mud Valley Institute, a regenerative education and action focused nonprofit located near Lagos, Portugal, working to reverse the effects of desertification in our local ecosystem. We also support educational efforts in the areas of eco-social regeneration and ecosystem restoration.
Questions about this community or its work? Email us at info@mudvalleyinstitute.org.
Our work
Regenerating our bioregion
Bioregions are geographic areas where ecological processes, species, landscapes, cultures, and economies interact. They reflect the interconnectedness of people and nature, and the impacts each has on the other. For time immemorial, watersheds have been a natural way to define bioregions.
We are working on holistic, community-led restoration approaches that unite nature, culture, and economy in our bioregion. We are geographically focused on the area found south and west of Foia Mountain, near Monchique, and generally west of the Rio Arade, for waterways draining to the south and west coasts of this part of the Algarve.
Why participate?
Our community is working to shape the future of the southwestern Algarve together
Being an active participant affords you the opportunity to be part of something bigger; something that will bring tangible change and improvement to our little part of the world.
Aligned vision
for a thriving, regenerative bioregion, focusing on the Monchique Watershed.
Co-create actionable strategies
for ecosystem restoration and socio-ecological resilience throughout the region.
Aligned resources and skills
to better implement and scale our work…we are stronger working together!
Meet and work with others
who also want to scale the impact of ecosystem regeneration here.
Who can join?
This community is for all who want to actively contribute to an improved, regenerated ecosystem in our local area.
Our local ecosystem is an intertwined, interdependant web having ecological, social, and economic aspects, each of which must be strong for the entire system to work effectively. Because of this complexity, we are seeking people with a variety of interests, viewpoints, experiences, and skills to come together to form a cohesive working group.
Land owners, farmers and stewards
whether actively engaged in, or wanting to get started on, ecosystem regeneration work at your location.
Non-land owners and regeneration agents
with knowledge and experience in ecosystem restoration who are ready for your next challenge.
Program designers and facilitators
who are ready to prepare and guide activities and events.
Scientists and reseachers
who want to contribute your academic and practical knowledge and expertise in support of our work.
Engaged citizens
wishing to be a part of the regeneration of the southwestern Algarve, regardless of your knowledge or skill level in regeneration.
Policymakers
working for government agencies which support ecosystem restoration initiatives and programs.
Participating projects
A dynamic collection of restoration projects is joining together to scale our impact
Quinta Vale da Lama
Odiáxere
Vinha Velha
Barão de São João
Quinta do Jasmim
Bensafrim
Restore Nature Foundation
Barão de São João
Santuário da Machada
Bensafrim
Quinta dos Três Figos
Marmelete
Lagos Mais Verde
Lagos
Events
Our community is based on collaboration and interaction, whether that be a planning session or a regenerative-action event in the field. We would love for you to join us and be a part of the impact we are creating.
Please note that dates and topics are subject to change. Check this page regularly for updates.
Upcoming events
Community Meeting
6 September 2025, 9:30am-12:30pm
Quinta Vale da Lama, Lagos
Finalizing Planning for the November Month of Regeneration
We will conclude the planning for our November actions relating to ecosystem restoration in the southwestern Algarve.
Goals for this meeting
- Address any remaining planning needs for the November month of regenerative action,
- Review the Projects and Actions database to assure that all members fully understand how to access and use it,
- Set up next steps and time for next in person meeting.
Where?
The event will be held at Quinta Vale da Lama, near Odiáxere, Lagos. It will take place at the Mud Valley Institute office. .
Get directions to the event (opens in Google Maps).
Month of Regeneration
November 2025, Various Dates
Locations across the Southwestern Algarve
A Month of Actions and Volunteering to Regenerate our Bioregion
The Ecosystem Restoration Community of the Southwestern Algarve will present a variety of actions and events throughout November 2025 to support the regeneration of our local ecosystem. We will actively seek volunteers to support these works to help scale our impact.
A full range of activities are planned by the members of this community. Participants and volunteers will help with landscape maintenance, reforestation, and waterworks building. Tours, trainings, and workshops will also be offered.
This month will be filled with ways for land stewards, agents of regeneration, and interested members of the public to get involved in ecosystem restoration!
More details will be announced soon! Sign up for email from Mud Valley Institute to receive updates about this program.
Previous events
21 June 2025 Session
This half day session focused on two main areas: continuing to plan for the November month of action and creating a unified plant order list from the various projects so that we can try to gain some economies of scale when placing orders.
Overview
11 land owners/stewards gathered at Quinta Vale da Lama to continue the work from our May 2025 session. Our primary goal was to continue collaborating on the actions and schedule for the November month-long event.
Key elements of the session were:
- Aligning on and updating the November event calendar with dates and details for each action,
- Discussing logistical and support needs for the November event, including how registration will be managed and the user experience when visiting the program landing page,
- Reinforcing the various communication and collaboration channels community members have access to,
- Discussing ideas on how to consolidate plant orders across projects, and how we can try to work with nurseries to gain discounts for bulk orders from the list,
- Viewing the first video in the “Regeneration Stories of the Algarve” video series, closing out the session on an uplifting and inspirational note.
Main Takeaways and Next Steps
- Project and Action Database: This database is live and available to land steward members of the community. It also includes the calendar of actions for November,
- Plant List and Nursery Resources: Tabs will be added to the Project and Action Database to allow for the aggregation of plant lists and to create a listing of area nurseries,
- Month of Regeneration Page: Mud Valley Institute will start work on the marketing and registration page for the November event,
- Next Meeting: Set for 6 September, from 9:30am – 12:30pm, at Quinta Vale da Lama,
- Next Steps: Projects should continue to lock in action dates and details for November, add plant stock lists to the Project database until mid-July, and add their project to Restor.eco if they haven’t already. Mud Valley Institute will continue work on the marketing and registration page, and coordinate with the projects for individual items that need to be handled over the summer.
10 May 2025 Session
This half day session focused on sharing details of the projects in attendance and the activities each is considering for the Month of Regenerative Action being planned for November 2025. We also worked on defining common needs across all the partner locations.
Overview
8 land owners/stewards gathered at Quinta Vale da Lama to continue the work from our April 2025 session. Our goal was to maintain the momentum from the previous meeting by sharing and developing initial ideas for our fall actions.
Key elements of the session were:
- Sharing details of each project in attendance, including location, size, the number of people directly involved, and the number of direct and indirect beneficiaries from their work,
- Sharing initial action ideas for each project, including type of activity, area size of expected impact, the expected number of participants, and resources needed to support the action,
- Beginning to fill in the calendar of actions for November,
- Defining common needs across the community,
- Discussing the mapping and coordination of projects on the Restor.eco platform.
Main Takeaways and Next Steps
- Project and Action Database: We will create a shared database with details of each project and the actions planned for November, so that community members have easy access to this information,
- Calendar of Actions: We started work on a calendar of actions for November. We will create a centralized, online calendar members can access and update,
- Common Needs: As a group we defined the following common needs across projects: marketing support and operations, a plant stock collective to aid in planning and cost reduction, shared machinery/operators, ongoing communication among projects, increased collaboration on actions,
- Restor.eco: Community members are encouraged to add their projects to Restor and add it to the Barlavento ERC collection so we can show the breadth of our community,
- Next Meeting: Set for 21 June, from 9:30am – 1230pm, at Quinta Vale da Lama,
- Next Steps: Projects should begin to lock in action dates for November, develop plant stock needs in time for the June meeting so we can create a single order by the end of June,and add their project to Restor.eco. Mud Valley Institute will work on creating a project/action database and a digital calendar.
6 April 2025 Session
This full day working session further solidified the definition and organization of the community and begin defining a collective impact strategy for ecosystem regeneration in the southwestern Algarve.
Overview
12 land owners/stewards of our ecosystem restoration community gathered at Quinta Vale da Lama, near Lagos, to continue the work started in November 2024. Our goal was to continue to build a path forward for the community by enabling deeper connection among members and beginning to develop an actionable strategy.
The day was organized into 3 distinct modules:
- Discussing the ecological and socio-economic challenges each member/location is experiencing,
- Sharing how we are attempting to address these challenges, both individually, at each location, and collectively, across the bioregion,
- Collaboratively identifying high level themes around which we will organize our regenerative actions, and then beginning to identify potential actions under each theme.
We also reviewed the outputs from our November 2024 session and shared how we had taken action against that list of outputs.
Main Takeaways and Next Steps
- Action Themes: The four areas under which our actions will fall are: Networking (through both internal and external collaboration), Learning (gathering and sharing knowledge), Practices (the techniques we use for regeneration), and Validation (how we analyze and share the effectiveness of our work).
- Initial Tactical Ideas: We began to generate potential actions under each of the four Action Themes. In future sessions we will review, assess, and prioritize these ideas for implementation.
- Communication Platforms: We unveiled a Discourse-powered online interactive forum which we will use for threaded, on-going conversations. The link to the forum was shared with all attendees so that everyone could begin engaging. If you would like access to this forum, please email walt@mudvalleyinstitute.org.
- Collaborative Actions in November 2025: We agreed to have a bioregional month of action in November in which the community participants will host events and activities at their sites. This coordinated, month-long effort will building synergies between individuals, organizations, and projects to amplify outcomes.
- Sharing Our Story: Mud Valley Institute will create a video series which shares the stories, challenges, and efforts of each member location. This will raise awareness of our work, and share knowledge and inspiration to the broader ecosystem restoration movement as well as the general public.
- Consistent Gatherings: We agreed that regular, in-person meetings are key for assuring continued progress. We will have monthly meetings going forward.
9 November 2024 Session
We came together in late 2024 to collectively sense our territory and identify ways to support the work of improving the resilience of our region’s ecosystems.
Overview
This first session of our working group was held at Quinta Vale da Lama, near Lagos, with Mud Valley Institute serving as the host institution for the event.
We started with an inspiring video presentation by John D. Liu of Ecosystem Restoration Communities, who shared his insights and vision into the topic of “Collective Action Towards Ecosystem Restoration”.
We then hosted a collaborative session with a variety of local stakeholders to begin co-creating impactful, collective regenerative actions for our bioregion. This open discussion and working session touched on a variety of bioregional ecosystem restoration-related topics, and how we can enable collaboration within the region to drive impactful regeneration results.
Main Takeaways and Next Steps
- Ecopreneurs Hub: The need for a bioregional hub to bring together skilled people, offer hands-on training, and foster ecopreneurship in the region.
- Bioregional Database: A comprehensive resource to map out who is involved, existing projects, connections, and accessible resources for ecosystem restoration efforts.
- Educational Initiatives: Programs aimed at empowering young ecopreneurs with the knowledge and tools to lead regenerative practices.
- Common Goals and Shared Vision: Aligning our efforts under a unified vision to maximize impact and create tangible, measurable progress.
- Communication Platform: A dedicated space for ongoing dialogue, collaboration, and information sharing across our community.
- Collaborative Actions: Building synergies between individuals, organizations, and projects to amplify outcomes.
Register for the Next Community Event
A few details to keep in mind:
When: Saturday, 6 September 2025, from 9:30am – 12:30pm.
Where: We will meet at the offices of Mud Valley Institute, at Quinta Vale da Lama. Turn right on the first driveway after you pass Novas Descobertas Association.
Register using the form below.
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