Title
Agroforestry Futures

CoPED ID
8b35f5d8-5bd4-4a9f-9c5c-73c26d315bee

Status
Active

Funder

Value
£85,661

Start Date
Aug. 11, 2022

End Date
Feb. 11, 2024

Description

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UK nature-based solutions, such as tree planting, must engage with the agricultural sector, given that agriculture uses
more than 70 per cent of the land in the UK and is a major emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Meeting the UK's tree
planting targets and reducing agricultural GHG emissions may require converting current agricultural land to alternative
land-uses. Agroforestry, where trees are deliberately combined with agriculture on the same piece of land, is one
alternative land-use that maintains food production, but which can also drive down GHG emissions, deliver key ecosystem
services, and create and improve (rural) livelihoods. Agroforestry supports several goals not only relevant to Net Zero, but
for the UK government's 25 Year Environment Plan and Clean Growth Strategy. However, the environmental and societal
benefits of agroforestry can only be realized through widespread adoption by key stakeholders, including farmers and land
managers. The overall objective of the AF Futures project is to co-develop strategies to overcome barriers to, identify
facilitators of, and increase opportunities for agroforestry practices in different UK contexts. Research focused on
understanding the similarities in preferences and perceived challenges identified by different stakeholder groups, as well as
how these might be addressed in local and national contexts will be conducted with AF futures, using a multidisciplinary
approach. Integration of the natural, social and economic, sciences and arts and humanities is central to activities within
AF Futures. Research addressing how regulatory structures, economic incentives, socio-economic drivers and impacts,
and agronomic intervention shape agroforestry practices will be integrated through different disciplinary lenses. The arts
and humanities will be used to create visual transitions from past representations of agroforestry to agroforestry futures,
which integrate socio- economic outcomes and future biodiversity and ecosystem services, if adoption of different particular
agroforestry approaches occurs.

Martin Lukac PI_PER
Robbie Girling COI_PER

Subjects by relevance
  1. Agroforestry
  2. Agriculture
  3. Land use
  4. Sustainable development
  5. Forestry
  6. Greenhouse gases
  7. Agricultural land
  8. Food production
  9. Societal effects
  10. Ecosystem services
  11. Emissions
  12. Innovations

Extracted key phrases
  1. Agroforestry Futures
  2. Different UK context
  3. UK nature
  4. AF Futures project
  5. Current agricultural land
  6. Agronomic intervention shape agroforestry practice
  7. UK government
  8. Tree planting
  9. Alternative land
  10. Agricultural GHG emission
  11. Agroforestry approach
  12. Different stakeholder group
  13. Agricultural sector
  14. AF future
  15. Use

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations