To coincide with the World Congress on Agroforestry, the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature initiative has posted a blog about taking tree-based ecosystem approaches to the landscape level.

Tree-based ecosystem approaches include practices that combine trees with agricultural production in order to generate income, ensure food security and conserve biodiversity.

Analysis of the benefits of agroforestry systems has usually focused on the household or community level but this does not consider their broader role in maintaining ecosystem services. More recently, global studies by the World Agroforestry Centre and FAO have begun to collect data at larger scales.

In reviewing existing research, EcoAgriculture has found that the most frequently scaled-up tree-based ecosystem approaches include natural regeneration practices and fertilizer tree propagation in Africa, silvopastoral practices in Latin America and Europe and home gardens in Asia. A change in land use towards agroforestry tended to be linked to improving soil quality, generating incomes and producing food for subsistence as well as fodder for livestock.

Read the full story: Zooming in on Tree Based Ecosystem Approaches

Download the Tree Based Ecosystem Approaches Report released by EcoAgriculture in November 2013.