Trees in the landscape: towards the promotion and development of traditional and farm forest management in tropical and subtropical regions

Abstract

This introductory paper aims to synthesize the findings on on-farm trees research with the integration of traditional silvicultural knowledge on multipurpose trees for the design of small scale forestry practices in Africa and Asia. The science, socio-economics and governance aspects of traditional tree based management systems have been documented through the different papers. The findings provide a synopsis of on-farm tree management in Africa and Asia. The synthesis shows that there are still important knowledge gaps such as the ownership of land and trees, gender, the motivation to invest on farm trees, income and livelihood strategies and ecological issues of on farm trees in the context of climate change adaptation and sustainable development goals. There is a general consensus that successful implementation of community involvement in natural resource management in Africa and Asia will only be realized by implementing enabling policies on land tenure, devolution for full empowerment visa viz planning, beneficiation and sharing of benefits.

Farmers’ Preferences for Conservation and Breeding Programs of Forestry Food Resources in Niger

“…For this purpose, understanding the adoption of the agroforestry system and taking into account the "view of the farmer" is a challenge. The study of the preferences of farmers as well as their availability to participate in sustainable management actions facilitates the success of the implementation of the programs and the improvement of the whole socio-ecological system [32][33][34][35][36]. Thus, the aim of this paper was to estimate the preferences for participation by local communities in conservation and improvement programs for their agroforestry systems, more specifically regarding the trees that are present in those systems.…”

Why do We Want Trees? Potential for Improvement in Food and Income in Brazilian Rural Settlements

“…Studying the arboreal component within settlements, their acceptance by farmers, the cultivated species and the role they play within the lots can enable new forms of spatial organization and design, with innovations in production processes, environmental conservation and market insertions (Duque-Brasil et al, 2011;Chirwa & Mala, 2016). Mbow et al (2013) claim that tree-based systems are more productive and more aligned with the material and cultural needs of human populations than systems that do not contain the tree component.…”

“…Diversification within these agroecosystems should be guided by agroecological transition processes (Altieri, 2002), and generate new food systems, where trees can perform multiple functions (Chirwa & Mala, 2016), supplying timber and non-timber products, generating income and food. According to Altieri (2002) perennial crops tend to generate more stable and diversified agroecosystems, which is beneficial for agroecological transition processes.…”

Strategies for the Management of Traditional Chestnut Landscapes in Pesio Valley, Italy: A Participatory Approach

“…As demonstrated by García de Jalón et al (2017), a limited number of stakeholders involved in participatory processes generate discussions helping the evaluation of the relative importance of agroforestry system changes [27]. In this context, several authors have explained that scientific research needs to consider the views of local stakeholders, because they are affected by political and administrative decisions [3,28,36]. In the present study, analysis of the focus group results allowed the identification of shared driving forces with their direct or indirect landscape effects.…”

“…In Europe, all agroforestry systems are landscapes managed by traditional agricultural techniques or practices [1,2]. Currently, traditional landscapes are receiving much attention from researchers and planners with multiple aims, including biodiversity preservation and conservation of cultural values [3]. The concept of traditional landscapes is linked to their cultural and historical features, to the maintenance over the centuries of the same land uses and cultivation techniques.…”