Why do we need agroforestry for our landscape to be resilient?

FOREST EUROPE Workshop ‘Understanding the Contribution of Agroforestry to Landscape Resilience in Europe’ 9-10 October 2018

Session ’Benefits of agroforestry and its potential contribution to climate change adaptation increasing resilience of landscape’

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Mercedes Rois, Michael den Herder

Structure

1. Agroforestry as mitigation and adaptation to CC

2. Farmer´s motivation for implementing agroforestry

3. Current extent and potential for agroforestry in Europe

4. Forest fire occurrence in agroforestry landscapes

5. Agroforestry innovations for resilient landscapes

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1. Agroforestry as mitigation and adaptation to CC

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Agroforestry: CC mitigation & adaptation

‘one of the most powerful tools to mitigate and adapt to climate change all over the world’

Buttoud, 2013; FAO, 2015, Sinclair et al., 2017

• Reducing forest fires (risk & intensity) > reduce GHG

• Increase shadow for animals

• Nutrients recycling through vegetation and animals > reduce inputs (fertilization) (N fert largest emissions)

• Reducing nutrient run-off and soil erosion

• Water regulation

• Increase of organic matter (C) into soil and trees

• Eco-intensification: 20-80% increase production

• Short supply chains > reduce transport GHG and favour local economies

• Farm productivity and diversification > living in rural areas

• Landscape heterogeneity > biodiversity and resilience > reduction of pests > healthier products

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2. Farmer´s motivation for implementing agroforestry

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Analysis of environmental and socio-economic factors framing agroforestry development in Europe

Why is agroforestry accepted or not?• Qualitative interviews to farmers (183) AF + non-AF

1 High Nature and Cultural Value areas 2 Hedgerows3 Grasslands with scattered trees4 Montado5 Dehesa6 Fruit orchards7 Forest grazing

What are the main reasons for the farmers to practice conventional farming?

1 Tradition

2 Lack of knowledge on AF

3 Easier management

4 Small land to be maximized

5 Lack of time

6 Lack of subsidies for AF

7 High quality soil is a scarce resource to be maximized

8 Age

9 AF is not advantageous from an economic perspective, less productivity

10 Ownership of the land might be a limitation

11 Fine as they are

12 Might give AF a try 4.10.2018

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What are the main reasons for the farmers to practice agroforestry?

1 Tradition

2 Learning from others

3 Increasing diversification of products and their quality

4 Minimizing risks in production

5 Animal welfare

6 Aesthetics and cultural heritage

7 Primary vs second occupation

8 Research purposes

9 Environmental reasons

10 Improving quality of life

11 Marginal lands are not suitable for arable crops

12 Subsidies

13 Regulations

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What are the main problems that the farmers face when implementing agroforestry?

• Problems with farm management (difficulty, work, animal management cost, fencing, finding animals, regeneration)

• Wild fauna problems (killing, stress, quality, local institutions not acting)

• Regulation (law) problems (forest land, forest service > no animals, no use of hedgerows)

• Property rights problems

• Lack of knowledge

• Bureaucracy problems

• Low profitability, expenses and product price fluctuations

• No problems

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Main message

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• The main drivers for the farmers, conventional or agroforestry farming,

• tradition in the family or the region and continue with the existing system since old times

• the knowledge on existing successful practices

• Lack of awareness on agroforestry in own farms

• Many farmers would be willing to implement agroforestry if they would have available more knowledge on those, their profitability, benefits and practical know-how.

• Subsidies within the CAP should favour this type of farming with more funding (25 measures simplified!), which should also be explained thoroughly and encouraged by the extension services, increasing the awareness of grants available besides the practical knowledge on the management and alternatives.

• Raising awareness of the consumers on the quality of the agroforestry products and the ecosystem services provided by the agroforestry systems is also essential for encouraging farmers to practice agroforestry.

3. Current extent and potential for agroforestry in Europe

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Current extent of agroforestry in Europe

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Area of agroforestry: Using LUCAS data:15.4 Mha (3.6% of total area and 8.8%

of agricultural area) (den Herder et al. 2017). CAP2007-2013 trees vs CAP 2014-2020 woody component

0 2000 4000 6000

Spain

Greece

France

Italy

Portugal

Romania

Bulgaria

UK

Sweden

Germany

Ireland

Austria

Finland

Other

Area (thousand ha)

Silvopastoral

Silvoarable

Environmental problems which could be solved by agroforestry

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Environmental deficits

• Soil erosion from wind and water

• Low soil organic carbon

• Irrigation

• Nitrogen surplus

• Temperature rise

• Low soil biodiversity

• Low landscape suitability for pollinators

• Pest control index

(From Kay, S. et al. submitted)

Environmental problems which could be solved by agroforestry

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converting 10% of farmlands into agroforestry could mitigate between 1 and 43% of the agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the type of agroforestry introduced.

4. Forest fire occurrence in agroforestry landscapes

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Agroforestry as a sustainable land use option to reduce forest fire risk in European Mediterranean areasChristos Damianidis; J Javier Santiago-Freijanes; Michael den Herder; Paul Burgess; Maria Rosa Mosquera Losada; Anil Graves; Andreas Papadopoulos; Andrea Pisanelli; Francesca Camilli; Mercedes Rois; Sonja Kay; Joao Palma; Anastasia Pantera

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• Frequency of megafires increasing• Reasons: extreme + increasing temperatures and drought, strong winds,

monocultures vs fragmentation, rural abandonment vs use andmanagement of the understory/timber, increasing fuel load

• 2008-2017 93% of fires in Europe occurred in the Mediterranean área• Countries Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, France, Portugal and Spain• 12 years fire data European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS, 2018) >

30 ha + LUCAS & CORINE land use/land cover + GIS

• Fire incidents and the area burnt were lower in agroforestry areas

• In all the studied area only a small proportion (5.7%) of all fire incidents occurred in agroforestry land during the ten-year time span (2008-2017) compared to shrubland (40.6%) and forest (37.1%)

• Agroforestry with fewer wildfires thanforests, shrublands or grasslands > AGROFORESTRY is more RESILIENT landscape

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y = 0.6714x

y = 0.72x

y = 1.4884x

y = 0.7284x

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0

Pro

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(%)

Proportion of land area (%)

Christos Damianidis et al. (submitted) Agroforestry as a sustainable land use option to reduce forest fire risk in European Mediterranean areas

AgroforestryShrublandGrasslandForest

Main message

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• Agroforestry is an excellent tool to increase productivity and provideecosystem services if adequate species are mixed for a specific location

• Silvopastoralism offers an effective way to manage fuel load, i.e. preventingforest fires / limiting fire spread /reducing impacts / avoid emissions frommechanical clearance

• Agroforestry increases resilience in plots and farms while mitigating andadaptating to climate change

5. Agroforestry innovations for resilient landscapes

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Agroforestry Innovation Networks

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Agroforestry innovations

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Active mushroom cultivation in forests: Shiitake, oyster mushroom, shaga mushroom (pakuri), lingzhi mushroom

Agroforestry innovations

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Sheep as forest managers

Agroforestry innovations

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Wind breaks / alley cropping with bioenergy willow, fruit trees and high value trees (e.g. Ash Fraxinus excelsior, American walnut Juglans nigra)

More information at:

www.agforward.eu

www.agroforestry.eu/afinet

LET’S WORK FOR EURAF’S GOAL

50% OF FARMERS ADOPTING AGROFORESTRY BY 2025

Papers from EFI staff• Garcia de Jalon, S., Burgess, P.J., Graves, A., Moreno, G., McAdam, J., Pottier, E., Novak, S., Bondesan, V., Mosquera M.R., Crous-Duran, J., Palma, J.H.N., Paulo, J.A., Oliveira, T., Cirou, E., Hannachi, Y., Pantera,

A., Wartelle, R., Kay, S., Malignier, N., Van Lerberghe, P., Tsonka, P., Mirck, J., Rois, M., Kongsted, A.G., Thenail, C., Luske, B., Berg, S., Gosme, M., Vityi, A., 2017. How is agroforestry perceived in Europe? An assessment of positive and negative aspects by stakeholders. AGFORWARD Special issue. Agroforestry Systems. 92(4), 829-848. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0116-3

• Rois-Díaz, M., Lovric, N., Lovric, M., Ferreiro-Domínguez, N., Mosquera-Losada, M.R., den Herder, M., Graves, A., Palma, J., Paulo, J.A., Pisanelli, A., Smith, J., Moreno, G., García, S., Varga, A., Pantera, A., Mirck, J., Burgess, P. (2017) Farmers’ reasoning behind the uptake of agroforestry practices: evidence from multiple case-studies across Europe. AGFORWARD Special issue. Agroforestry Systems. 92(4), 811-828. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0139-9

• Lovrić, M., Rois-Díaz, M., den Herder, M., Pisanelli, A., Lovrić, N., Burgess, P.J. 2018. Driving forces for agroforestry uptake in Mediterranean Europe: application of the analytic network process. AGFORWARD Special issue. Agroforestry Systems. 92(4), 863-876. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-018-0202-1

• M. R. Mosquera-Losada, J. J. Santiago-Freijanes, A. Pisanelli, M. Rois-Díaz, J. Smith, M. den Herder, G. Moreno, N. Ferreiro-Domínguez, N. Malignier, N. Lamersdorf, F. Balaguer, A. Pantera, A. Rigueiro-Rodríguez, J. A. Aldrey, M. P. González-Hernández, J. L. Fernández-Lorenzo, R. Romero-Franco & P. J. Burgess, 2018. Agroforestry in the European common agricultural policy. AGFORWARD Special issue. Agroforestry Systems. 92(4), 1117-1127. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-018-0251-5

• Santiago Freijanes, J.J., Mosquera-Losada, M.R., Rois-Díaz, M., Ferreiro-Domínguez, N., Pantera, A., Aldrey, J.A., Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A., 2018. Global and European policies to foster agricultural sustainability: Agroforestry. Agroforestry Systems. AGFORWARD Special Issue. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-018-0215-9.

• Santiago-Freijanes, S., Pisanelli, A., Rois-Díaz, M., Aldrey-Vázquez, J.A., Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A., Pantera, A., Vityi, A., Lojkag, B., Ferreiro-Domínguez, N., Mosquera-Losada, R., 2018. Agroforestry development in Europe: Policy issues. Land Use Policy. Volume 76, 144-156. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.03.014

• Mosquera-Losada, M.R., Santiago-Freijanes, J.J., Rois-Díaz, M., Moreno, G., den Herder, M., Aldrey-Vázquez, J.A., Ferreiro-Domínguez, N., Pantera, A., Pisanelli, A., Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A., 2018. Agroforestry in Europe: a land management policy tool to combat climate change. Land Use Policy 78 603-613 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.06.052

• den Herder, M., Moreno, G., Mosquera-Losada, R.M., Palma, J.H.N., Sidiropoulou, A., Santiago Freijanes, J.J., Crous-Duran, J., Paulo, J.A., Tomé, M., Pantera, A., Papanastasis, V.P., Mantzanas, K., Pachana, P., Papadopoulos, A., Plieninger, T., Burgess, P.J., 2017. Current extent and stratification of agroforestry in the European Union. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 241, 121–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.03.005

• Santiago-Freijanes, J.J., Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A., Aldrey, J.A., Moreno, G., Herder, M. den, Burgess, P., Mosquera-Losada, M.R., 2018. Understanding agroforestry practices in Europe through landscape features policy promotion. Agroforest Syst 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-018-0212-z

• Damianidis, C., Santiago-Freijanes, J., den Herder, M., Burgess, P., Mosquera-Losada, M.R., Graves, A., Papadopoulos, A., Pisanelli, A., Camilli, F., Rois, M., Kay, S., Palma, J., Pantera, A., unpublished. Agroforestry as a sustainable land use option to reduce forest fires risk in European Mediterranean areas. Agroforestry Systems (submitted)

• Kay, S., Rega, C., Moreno, G., den Herder, M., Palma, J., Borek, R., Crous-Duran, J., Freese, D., Giannitsopoulos, M., Graves, A., Jäger, M., Lamersdorf, N., Memedemin, D., Mosquera-Losada, M.R., Pantera, A., Paracchini, M.L., Paris, P., Roces-Díaz, J.V., Rolo, V., Rosati, A., Sandor, M., Smith, J., Szerencsits, E., Varga, A., Viaud, V., Wawer, R., Burgess, P., Herzog, F., unpublished. How much can Agroforestry contribute to Zero-Emission Agriculture in Europe? Converting 8.9% of European farmland to agroforestry could mitigate between 1 and 43% of European agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Land Use Policy (submitted).

4.10.2018 | WWW.EFI.INT