Plateforme de connaissances sur l'agriculture familiale

Agroforestry opportunities

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports sustainable land use including the establishment and maintenance of agroforestry systems. The new CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs) for 2023-2027 provide Member States with options and opportunities to support agroforestry systems where trees are grown on agricultural land to help boost farm incomes while improving environmental conditions. Defined by the European Agroforestry Federation as planting trees on farmland or introducing agriculture in existing woodland/orchards, agroforestry opportunities are available for agricultural systems throughout Europe. Some 15.4 million hectares in the EU (equivalent to 3.6% of the territorial area or 8.8% of the utilised agricultural area) are estimated to already be used for agroforestry purposes. Most agroforestry within the EU is currently constituted by livestock farms, where trees are established individually or in blocks within improved grasslands and traditional silvopastoral systems, like montados/dehesas. In these situations, grazing land is often combined with intercropping of permanent trees, offering additional products such as fruits, nuts, olives, or timber. Another option is to integrate agroforestry areas in and around arable land, as seen across much of the EU, including in outermost regions. Agroforestry coverage forms part of the CSP performance review indicator set and the EU will be closely following agroforestry data during the new programming period. This will help highlight CAP contributions to the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030, which notes the potential of agroforestry for accelerating roll out of carbon farming for climate mitigation, among other benefits offered by this multifunctional land use.

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Éditeur: EU CAP Network
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Auteur: EU CAP Network
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Organisation: EU CAP Network
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Année: 2022
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Pays: European Union
Couverture géographique: Union européenne
Type: Note/document d'orientation
Langue: English
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