The Montados Net-Zero project has launched a new video presenting the Montado Living Lab, a living laboratory dedicated to the regeneration of the montado, created in 2024. This collaborative network, part of the CHANGE Associated Laboratory, is coordinated by Teresa Pinto Correia, a researcher at the MED Institute of the University of Évora and director of CHANGE.
Made up of 40 partner organizations, the Montado Living Lab focuses on issues such as soil health and the sustainable management of the montado, an agro-sylvo-pastoral system of high ecological and socio-economic value. At the heart of this initiative are experimental plots on farms with real economic activity, allowing data to be collected in a production context and direct contact with the challenges faced by producers.
“If we can have better soils, we will surely have better Montados,” says Teresa Pinto Correia.
We need to better understand the processes that help the soil regenerate and disseminate good practices for managing vegetation cover, pastures, water and biodiversity.
The video highlights the role of the Montado Living Lab as a meeting point between science, practice and policy, which brings together three research centers (MED, CE3C and CENSE), companies, farmers' and local development associations, and entities with a strategic role, such as CCDR Alentejo, with the aim of aligning the knowledge produced in the field with public policies.
The video now released aims to increase public recognition of the importance of the cork oak forest and the essential role that long-term, collaborative science plays in its preservation.
Text adapted from: Montados Net-Zero