Agroforestry Systems and their contribution to biodiversity conservation.

Agroforestry Systems and their contribution to biodiversity conservation.

The month of April marks the celebration of World Earth Day, a day that helps us raise awareness about the relevance of conserving biodiversity and managing natural resources in a sustainable manner. The Agroforestry Systems (SAF) are an example of how to add to biodiversity, at the same time that sustainable management is carried out, since these agricultural or livestock production systems include the tree component.

The types of trees and the ways in which these can be included in the crops, depend on the ecological characteristics of each site and the objectives of the landowners. There are several types of SAF and those that are used by the Scolel'te Program are: live fences, Taungya system, improved fallows and shadow coffee plantations, where the trees are distributed in such a way, that it allows to take advantage of this arrangement to optimize production objectives and ecological benefits such as carbon sequestration.

As a complementary element to the primary rural activity, the trees in SAF provide resilience for times of crisis, offering a variety of products such as food, fodder, firewood (due to pruning), among others.

The implementation of SAF in the agricultural landscape matrix, contributes to avoid the degradation and deforestation of the remaining forest fragments. In addition, they offer alternative ecological niches and corridors, important for landscape connectivity and biodiversity conservation.

Finally, the massification of SAFs can contribute to the provision of ecosystem services for the entire human population, such as the mitigation of climate change and the regulation of hydrological cycles, without underestimating the landscape’s esthetic enhancement.