Agroforestry has the ability to reduce emissions, improve land productivity, and increase farmer profitability. It is important to note that integrating trees with farmland can be even more impactful when used in tandem with grazing.
Policy: Agroforestry has the ability to reduce emissions, improve land productivity, and increase farmer profitability. It is important to note that integrating trees with farmland can be even more impactful when used in tandem with grazing. This combination, otherwise known as silvopasture, can be achieved by planting trees into a conventional pasture or by thinning a wooded forest so that ruminants can graze beneath its canopy. This form of agroforestry deploys animals as a resource that restores land, keeps forests in place, and supports food sovereignty. To minimize tree damage, rotational grazing, which employs short grazing periods that maximize vegetative plant growth and harvest, is a key management strategy.
Worldwide, it is estimated that silvopasture systems are used on 1.36 billion acres of land. And as much as 2.03 billion acres of global grasslands have enough rainfall and humidity to adopt silvopasture techniques. This method has been observed for centuries in Japan’s Kyushu province and Portugal’s montado, with more recent efforts in South American countries. A pasture planted with trees can sequester five to ten times more carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere than a land of the same size that is treeless - storing it both above- and below-ground in soils and tree biomass. Moreover, if farmers increased silvopasture acreage from its current rate to 1.9 billion acres by 2050, CO2 emissions could be reduced by up to 42.3 gigaton - offsetting all of the CO2 emitted by humans globally in 2015. In addition to curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, blending trees with grazing lands is one of the most impactful forms of regenerative agriculture because of the way it:
After adding up all of these benefits, Project Drawdown - a study into ways to reverse global warming - ranked silvopasture as the ninth most impactful climate change solution, above solar power, electric vehicles, and geothermal energy. Nonprofits like the Savanna Institute are offering landowners financing and technical support to help scale silvopasture across the US. Meanwhile, policymakers are working to craft legislation that drives the widespread adoption of agroforestry systems. The Climate Stewardship Act aims to increase the financial incentives for silvopasture systems in programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. And the Agriculture Resilience Act seeks to increase funding for the Grazing Lands Conservation Coalition, in addition to establishing regional agroforestry centers.
In truth, we are just beginning to see the potential for silvopasture to curb emissions while improving agricultural productivity and diversity. Despite the uphill battle, it is possible to grow the practice by providing farmers and ranchers with resources on how it functions in different climates with different combinations of trees and animals. Even though silvopasture is not a panacea, it is an opportunity for trees, animals, and forages to work in harmony to regenerate soil and create financially viable farms.
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