AgroForestry Solutions: New Climate Heroes

Background

Agroforestry is an agricultural practice which integrates trees and shrubs with crops and livestock. It can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve environmental conditions. Recognising the benefits of agroforestry, the European Parliament has called for more effective support for this sustainable practice. However, agroforestry covers only nine per cent of agricultural land in the European Union. Its uptake varies considerably across countries, with untapped potential in countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where neither legal regulations nor public policy instruments exist for its adoption and farmers lack the know-how to implement it. While there are four agroforestry initiatives in Latvia, there are none in Estonia and Lithuania.

Project

Firstly, the project partners in Lithuania will develop comprehensive guidelines and a proposal for a legislative package to establish agroforestry as a widely accepted and government-supported method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They will provide basic knowledge on agroforestry and promote connections between agriculture and forestry. So that they can jointly and effectively safeguard biodiversity, prevent further forest fragmentation, and reduce soil erosion.

A pilot project is established on a recognised farm to showcase the direct benefits of agroforestry and to assess potential challenges of agroforestry implementation. The project partners develop a comprehensive guide on how to transfer know-how from one farm to another. In addition, awareness of the benefits and the feasibility of agroforestry is raised among farmers, policy makers and the general public. Policy makers are specifically targeted to drive policy and legislative changes to support broad-scale adoption of agroforestry practices.

Finally, project outcomes are transferred to Latvia and Estonia to promote agroforestry there as well.

Last update: April 2024