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Farming with trees

  • by JW

“Making efficient use of land for production of resources such as food and timber, while conserving biodiversity and safeguarding the environment for future generations.”

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‘Farming with trees’ makes good sense:

How farming and forestry could happily co-exist – Vision Group for Sidmouth

Agroforestry: growing not planting trees is the key – Vision Group for Sidmouth

The Woodland Trust gives an overview of ‘agroforestry’:

Agroforestry is a land management approach that combines trees and shrubs with crop and livestock farming systems. This practice delivers a multitude of benefits both for the farm and for nature. But it is yet to realise its full potential. Find out more about how agroforestry works, the rewards, why agroforestry needs to become the norm and how you can make a start.

Agroforestry – Woodland Trust

Here we have a look at training farmers in Mali in the sustainable agroforestry approach called Forest Gardening.

A Farmer Transforms her Land in the Heart of the Great Green Wall – Mali | ReliefWeb

And in Devon, farmers are working with trees:

Great British Beef Week co-founded by Devon farmer gears up for 11th year with spotlight on sustainability – Devon Live

Finally, Tom Staton of the University of Reading gives some of the latest on the subject:

Permission granted by Richard Straight, USDA Forest Service, National Agroforestry Center SILVOPASTURE SYSTEMS. Trees can be combined with livestock and pasture. The trees can be managed for timber and other tree crops while at the same time provide shade and shelter for livestock.

Farming with trees: a potential ‘win-win’ for sustainable food production and biodiversity?

With the global population approaching 8 billion, we face an ever-increasing challenge to make efficient use of land for production of resources such as food and timber, while conserving biodiversity and safeguarding the environment for future generations. The practice of farming with trees, or agroforestry, could be one strategy to help meet this challenge, on the premise that trees make use of the space above and below annual crops while benefitting biodiversity. In this research project, we aimed to test this by collecting data from UK farms to explore the impact of in-field fruit and timber trees on biodiversity, services provided by biodiversity such as pollination and the natural regulation of pests, crop production, and farm income: do the benefits outweigh the costs?

Farming with trees | agricology.co.uk

Farming with trees: a potential ‘win-win’ for sustainable food production and biodiversity? | Agricology