Regen Land was proposed as a multi-functional urban development sited adjacent to Lagoa de Albufeira, a nationally important bird reserve and popular recreation area. The development would include a 50 hectare regenerative farm located along the valley of the Ribeira de Aiana, leading directly into the lagoon. Due to the farm interfacing with the wetland area of the lagoon, and the clients desire to promote regenerative agriculture within the scope of the project, an innovative approach was taken for the landscape design.

The design response placed significant emphasis on ‘edge conditions’. Each unique edge to the farmland would produce its own distinct agroforestry system. To the north, along the lagoon edge a salt tolerant system was developed, intercropping high quality native perennial halophyte vegetables with mango, sea buckthorn and sumac for fruit and black cherry for timber production. All species are highly salt tolerant and have the capacity to resist saline incursion due to future sea level rise. Running through the center of the site, acting as the anchor for each system is a restored temporary Mediterranean watercourse. Eucalyptus facines and beaver dam analogues help reconnect the stream bed with the surrounding floodplain whilst restored white willow riparian galleries and narrow-leaved ash and white poplar floodplain terraces stabilize the banks and produce dense root-mats for denitrifying bacteria to filter the ground water as it percolates into the lagoon. Either side of the watercourse are large areas of silvo-pasture, predominantly black mulberry, used as a dry season fodder bank for ruminant livestock under rotational grazing. Along the rising valley sides, under xeric conditions, a woody perennial fruit system is proposed, focused primarily on the Portuguese crowberry.