Agroforestry as a sustainable land use option to reduce wildfires risk in European Mediterranean areas

Damianidis, Christos; Santiago-Freijanes, José Javier; Herder, Michael den; Burgess, Paul J.; Mosquera-Losada, María Rosa; Graves, Anil; Papadopoulos, Andreas; Pisanelli, Andrea; Camilli, Francesca; Rois-Díaz, M.; Kay, Sonja; Palma, J.H.N.; Pantera, Anastasia

doi:10.1007/s10457-020-00482-w

Cited by 59 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Wildfires have been an integral part of many terrestrial ecosystems such as the European Mediterranean basin. However, during the past decades, increasing temperatures and dry summers have been accompanied by an increasing risk of wildfires with devastating effects on the environment and human lives (Damianidis et al 2021). This may be partly due to largescale rural abandonment and moving of people to big cities combined with changes in land use (Kaloudıs et al 2021).…”

Section: Agroforestry As a Tool To Reduce Wildfires Incidentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroforestry and the environment

et al. 2021

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Agroforestry is a traditional land use system that may contribute to the solution of environmental problems in agriculture. Agroforestry is the practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crops and/or animal systems to benefit from the resulting ecological and economic interactions. Recent research indicates that a wider adoption of agroforestry principles and practices is a key means by which the global agri-food sector might achieve more sustainable methods of food and fiber production by producing both economic benefits for farmers and environmental benefits for society. Agroforestry provides numerous provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting ecosystem services and environmental benefits while promoting eco-intensification based on a more efficient use of the resources. Nevertheless, there is only little published recent information on the contribution of agroforestry to the environment in general and on climate change, carbon sequestration and forest fires in particular. In this special issue a number of articles are included that provide a kaleidoscope of the environmental benefits that agroforestry provides to the environment.

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Section: Agroforestry As a Tool To Reduce Wildfires Incidentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroforestry and the environment

et al. 2021

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“…Wildfires require fuel, oxygen, and heat in order to burn and spread. Unmanaged forests typically contain high fuel loads, increasing the risk of large, rapidly spreading wildfires [121]. However, many AFS have adopted a silvopastoral approach, which incorporates heavy thinning and pruning to create "firebreaks".…”

Section: Fire Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many AFS have adopted a silvopastoral approach, which incorporates heavy thinning and pruning to create "firebreaks". The land is then grazed by livestock to reduce shrub regrowth, and thus limits fire risk by depriving the fire of adequate fuel [121,122]. This is particularly common in Mediterranean countries such as France and Spain and has been adopted for decades in some cases, and some government policies actively encourage this system, such as in Catalonia [122].…”

Section: Fire Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agroforestry Benefits and Challenges for Adoption in Europe and Beyond

2020

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Soil degradation is a global concern, decreasing the soil’s ability to perform a multitude of functions. In Europe, one of the leading causes of soil degradation is unsustainable agricultural practices. Hence, there is a need to explore alternative production systems for enhanced agronomic productivity and environmental performance, such as agroforestry systems (AFS). Given this, the objective of the study is to enumerate the major benefits and challenges in the adoption of AFS. AFS can improve agronomic productivity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, soil biodiversity, water retention, and pollination. Furthermore, they can reduce soil erosion and incidence of fire and provide recreational and cultural benefits. There are several challenges to the adoption and uptake of AFS in Europe, including high costs for implementation, lack of financial incentives, limited AFS product marketing, lack of education, awareness, and field demonstrations. Policies for financial incentives such as subsidies and payments for ecosystem services provided by AFS must be introduced or amended. Awareness of AFS products must be increased for consumers through appropriate marketing strategies, and landowners need more opportunities for education on how to successfully manage diverse, economically viable AFS. Finally, field-based evidence is required for informed decision-making by farmers, advisory services, and policy-making bodies.

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“…These projects focus on grazed forests as an essential grazing habitat type and living area within mobile grazing systems, and on the pastoral communities sustaining them [25,27,28]. This process was empowered recently in Europe by the agroforestry innovation movement [29]. Across Europe, forest grazing by livestock became increasingly referred to as a historical land-use practice [16,18,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prohibited, but still present: local and traditional knowledge about the practice and impact of forest grazing by domestic livestock in Hungary

Varga

Demeter

Ulicsni

et al. 2020

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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Background Forests have been grazed for millennia. Around the world, forest grazing by livestock became a controversial management practice, gradually restricted in many countries over the past 250 years. This was also the case in most Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, where forest grazing was a legally prohibited activity between 1961 and 2017. Until the 2010s, ecologists and nature conservationists considered it merely as a historical form of forest use. As a result, there is little contemporary scientific information available about the impact of forest grazing on vegetation and the traditional ecological knowledge associated with it. Our aim was to explore and summarize this type of knowledge held by herders in Hungary. Methods We interviewed 58 knowledgeable herders and participated in forest grazing activities in 43 study locations across the country. The results were analysed qualitatively. Results We revealed a living ecological knowledge tradition and practice of forest grazing in native and non-native forest stands. The impact of livestock grazing on native and non-native forests is not considerably different, in the view of the herders. For both forest types, the greatest impact of grazing was the suppression of the shrub layer, while grazing also increased the dominance and palatability (“tameness”) of the grasses. Livestock could cause significant damage to seedlings during forest grazing, but if done with care, grazing could also be an integral part of forestry management. Conclusions Sustainability of current forest grazing practices depends on the depth of local and traditional knowledge applied and herders’ stewardship. We stress the importance of collaborating with holders of local and traditional knowledge in order to gain a better understanding of the effects of livestock grazing on vegetation in temperate forests.

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Agroforestry as a sustainable land use option to reduce wildfires risk in European Mediterranean areas

Cited by 59 publications

References 29 publications

Agroforestry and the environment

Agroforestry and the environment

Agroforestry Benefits and Challenges for Adoption in Europe and Beyond

Prohibited, but still present: local and traditional knowledge about the practice and impact of forest grazing by domestic livestock in Hungary

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