While the potential of agroforestry products to contribute to rural livelihoods is well-recognized, the quantification of their yields, incomes, and value for domestic consumption (VDC) and knowledge about their relationships with biodiversity are still scarce. This information is crucial for choosing the best strategy for growing cocoa in tropical landscapes while conserving biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem services. We analyzed the contribution of cocoa agroforestry farming to the incomes and domestic consumption of small farmers¿ families in 179 cocoa agroforestry systems (CAFS) (254 ha) in five Central American countries. The two hypotheses were: (1) agroforestry products are as important as cocoa in contributing to livelihoods, (2) the typology of CAFS determines the relationships between socioeconomic indicators and yield, biodiversity, and structure of the shade canopy, as well as the relationships between plant species richness and cocoa yield. We quantified the yields of agroforestry products and their contribution to net income, cash flow, and family benefits and developed a typology of CAFS production to evaluate relationships for each CAFS cluster. The main agroforestry products other than cocoa were bananas, oranges, peach palm, other fruits, and timber, which generated modest cash incomes but high VDC at low cash costs, thus contributing to family savings and food security. Timber volumes and harvest rates were low but significant increase was deemed feasible. The contribution of the set of agroforestry products to family benefits was similar or higher than cocoa, depending on the typology of the CAFS. Intensified highly diverse-dense CAFS demonstrated remarkably higher yields, net income, cash flow, and family benefits, and had more synergetic relationships than extensive CAFS and traditional highly diverse-dense CAFS, which showed more trade-offs. Our findings point to intensified highly diverse-dense CAFS as feasible for farming within a land-sparing strategy. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms that could regulate synergies or trade-offs to improve this type of intensification. (Résumé d'auteur

The process of urbanization modifies and eliminates biological components of urban morphology by replacing vegetation cover with gray surfaces. In this study, we aimed to identify the changes in vegetation cover in the city of San Juan de Pasto between the periphery and commune 1, which has the lowest vegetation cover in the city. We performed a multi-temporal analysis with LANDSAT satellite images over a period of 27 years (1989-2016) using the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) to determine the loss of urban vegetation cover (UVC). We estimated the urban environmental quality index (UEQI) based on the methodology proposed by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia (MinAmbiente), obtaining a score of 42 points that indicates low environmental quality. Furthermore, we calculated a new UEQI by mathematically extrapolating and correlating the theoretical benefits of UVC with environmental quality indicators, such as air quality, urban population exposure to noise exceeding the permitted levels, and residential energy consumption per capita. We found an improvement in the score of all the indicators and, consequently, the UEQI. We obtained a high projected environmental quality score of 60, demonstrating that UVC is a transforming factor of urban environmental quality due to the benefits provided by vegetation cover.

Contextualización: la ciudad de San Juan de Pasto, en especial su área céntrica y suroriental, presenta una presión significativa en los recursos ambientales a causa de una mayor densidad poblacional, lo que genera diversos problemas ambientales a razón del proceso de urbanización. Vacío de investigación: es necesario formular estrategias que contribuyan al mejoramiento de la calidad ambiental urbana en la comuna tres, por medio de la evaluación de indicadores de calidad ambiental urbana, la estimación de la calidad ambiental en la zona de estudio y la formulación de alternativas que aumenten dicho componente mitigando impactos ambientales. Propósito del estudio: los objetivos específicos del estudio fueron: identificar indicadores de calidad ambiental, estimar el índice de calidad ambiental urbana y proponer alternativas para mejorar la calidad ambiental urbana en la comuna tres, San Juan de Pasto. Metodología: se aplicó el índice de calidad ambiental urbana, metodología diseñada por el Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, como un instrumento para evaluar la sostenibilidad ambiental en las urbes. Se realizó la priorización de alternativas a través del método matriz de priorización multicriterio. Resultados y conclusiones: el valor del índice de calidad ambiental urbana para la comuna tres obtuvo un valor de 50,5, lo cual advierte de una calidad ambiental urbana media. Los indicadores más representativos son: calidad del aire y porcentaje de población urbana localizada en zonas de amenaza alta, obteniendo una calificación de muy alto y muy bajo, respectivamente. La priorización de alternativas dio lugar al estudio de dos estrategias, un sistema de terrazas verdes modulares y una estrategia de movilidad sostenible - Sistema público de bicicletas, que mejorarían la calidad ambiental del área de estudio. Este proceso concluyó que la aplicación del índice de calidad ambiental urbana tiene una viabilidad moderada en la aplicación al nivel estratégico de comuna.