The Contribution of Traditional Agroforestry to Climate Change Adaptation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Chakra System
Background
This article explores the amazonian-indigenous "chakra" agroforestry system, and its utility as a forest management practice that sequesters carbon, increases food security, grows valuable timber, and acts as a habitat connectivity. The size of these cultivated areas range from 0.4 - 4ha, and include species such as anioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz), banana (Musa paradisiaca L.), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth), fine-flavored cacao (Theobroma cacaoL.) and robusta coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre ex A. Froehner), and a variety of medicinals.
Conclusions & Takeaways
The researchers found that on average, the system has 170 timber and fruit trees with a DBH > 10cm. The researchers found that the chakra system stores 896 % more C than cacao monocultures (68.1 Mg C ha-1 and 7.6 Mg C ha−1, respectively) in their air and root biomass, with an average of 8 year old trees.
Reference:
. The Contribution of Traditional Agroforestry to Climate Change Adaptation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Chakra System. In: Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 2015:1973–1994. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-38670-1_102.
Affiliation:
- Universidad Estatal Amazónica Puyo–Napo, Ecuador
- Institute of Forest Management, Center of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany
- Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador
- The postgraduate Institute, Technical University of the North, Ibarra, Ecuador
- Earth & Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center, Turrialba–Cartago, Costa Rica
- Thünen–Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics, Hamburg, Germany