How smallholder agroforestry contributes to the conservation of tropical trees is the subject of a new article in the journal, Biodiversity and Conservation.

The Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog reports on the paper which outlines three key areas where more work is needed.

·         While agroforestry systems can be diverse in tree species, this is often not for the long-term. There is a need to promote connectivity between agroforestry systems to support conservation in farm landscapes.

·         It is unclear whether agroforestry does in fact support the conservation of nearby trees in natural forest.

·         The regeneration of stored seed can be costly so there is further work needed on how genebanks can better assist conservation.

The blog suggests that it is also important to look at how conservation contributes to smallholder livelihoods. It mentions another paper on the conservation of Peach palm, Bactris gasipaes which suggests that on-farm conservation might be an appropriate alternative to conserving wild populations.

Read the full story: Agroforestry and conservation 

View the full paper: What is the relevance of smallholders’ agroforestry systems for conserving tropical tree species and genetic diversity in circa situm, in situ and ex situ settings? A review