Agroforestry

Reforestation with Native Species in the Dry Lands of Panama

BACKGROUND

Natural populations of precious timber species in Panama are being overexploited, and some have been registered in the IUCN Red List in recent years. Within the overall framework of natural resource scarcity and mounting effects of climate change, the need for sustainable production of native trees that offer added values of water cycle regulation, soil improvement, and biodiversity conservation is stressed.

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Forest in the Air Project

Background

As a joint venture by Conservation International and Daikin, the Forest in the Air Project works in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in Indonesia. The forest is not only home to a variety of flora and fauna but also provides critical ecosystem services. Like other forests in Indonesia, the park is under threat from agriculture and other human activities, such as illegal logging. 

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Farmer Strategies for Dealing with Climatic Variability: A Case Study from the Mixteca Alta Region of Oaxaca, Mexico

background

Climate change is likely to disproportionally effect tropical regions. Yet effective adaptation requires an understanding of climate variability at specific locations and most data is regional. This is particularly true for small-scale farmers, who are highly vulnerable. This paper calls for a bridging of scientific and traditional knowledge in order to construct this location-specific understanding. This article discusses participatory research in the mixteca alta region of oaxaca, mexico that facilitated a process whereby farmers evaluated the ability of their agroecosystems to withstand the vagaries of climate.

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Community Action for Biodiversity and Forest Conservation and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Wild Coffee Forests (CAFA)

Background

Located in southwest Ethiopia, the Kafa Biosphere Reserve is an important area for water quality, carbon storage, and a range of endangered and endemic species. Moreover, around 65,000 people live in the reserve, most of whom depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. Coffee also grows wild in the region, which locals often harvest for sale. Still, poverty and population growth is common within these communities, causing increasing strain on natural resources. To address these needs, Nabu began a community action project.

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Tea Landscapes Adaptation Project

Background

In Malawi, tea plays a critical role in livelihoods yet climate change is increasingly challenging the longterm viability of the crop, which are then compounded by deforestation and soil erosion. 

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A Landscape Management Model for Conserving Biodiversity in the Comoros Islands

Background

The Comoros Islands have experienced one of the worst rates of deforestation in the world, which has threatened the livelihoods of both communities and the existence of critical flora and fauna. This is particularly common on Anjuan Island due to the regions the high population density. This GEF-Satoyama Project seeks to address these trends. 

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Biodiversity Persistence in Highly Human-modified Tropical Landscapes Depends on Ecological Restoration

background

This paper shows how forest restoration can enhance biodiversity using case studies from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. 

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Can tropical farmers reconcile subsistence needs with forest conservation?

background

Despite efforts to protect tropical rainforests through various policy initiatives, forests continue to face pressure from smallholders' subsistence needs, especially in montane regions. This paper proposes a means to turn abandoned montane pastoral land into productive agroforestry land as a viable alternative to further encroachment on existing forests.

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Adaptabilidad y crecimiento de especies nativas en areas en recuperacion del noroeste de la provincia de Misiones (Adaptability and growth of native species in recovery areas in the northwest of the province of Misiones)

Background

This study takes place in the Argentinean province of Misiones, where there was a high level of land degradation and strong need for reforestation to restore productivity to the landscape.

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Managing Forest Remnants and Forest Gardens in Peru and Indonesia

This chapter describes the forest management of flooded vareza of the Amazon forest in the Napo-Amazon floodplain in Peru. The area is rarely cultivated intensively due to flooding, but human populations have always been higher in this region than in upland forest areas of the Amazon. Some of the most important forest areas are known as capinurales, home to the capinuri tree (Maquira coriaceae), which is harvested for wood and resin. Inga spp. and Rheedia spp. (carichuelo) are collected for fruit.

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