1. Demystifying the Role of Agroforestry
in Biodiversity Conservation
Mohamed I Bakarr
ICRAF’s Scientific Renewal Seminar Series

2. Agroforestry….
 Creates livelihood options
for poor farmers and their
families in conservation
landscapes
 ‘Agroforest’ forms of tree
crop production form a matrix
that matters for conservation
of biodiversity
 Principles can be applied in
landscape approaches to
biodiversity conservation
…..needs to be mainstreamed.

3. Why mainstream
agroforestry in biodiversity
conservation?

4. Global Biodiversity Conservation
• The message is clear and consistent --
– Maintaining representative networks of natural
habitats – Protected Areas
– Eliminate threats to species
– Sustainable use of natural resources
– Access and benefit sharing
• But, the extent to which we are integrating
these efforts in broader landscapes
remains questionable

5. Agroforestry and Biodiversity
Conservation
• Agroforestry contributes to
biodiversity conservation through
three major pathways:
1. Reducing pressure on natural forests,
2. Providing habitat for native plant and animal
species, and
3. Serving as a benign matrix land use for
fragmented landscapes
Schroth et al. 2004

6. Fragmentation is deleterious
Loss of habitat results in:
– wildlife population
declines
– local “extinctions” --
particularly large
mammals
– Increased in
marginalized habitats
Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus, a
West African endemic believed to
be extinct across its range.

7. Fragmentation causes forest edges to recede
• Edge effects can be
pronounced by
“harshness” of the
matrix == >
– incidence of fires --
changes in biotic and
abiotic features
– exotic and invasive
species
• Receding edges lead
to increased
impoverishment of
the habitat interior
Gascon et al. 2000

9. The Future of Biodiversity is in
Landscape-scale approaches
• Livelihood options for local people – top priority in
forest management and conservation
• Effective linkages between protected areas and
other land use practices – “beyond boundaries”
• Innovations in land use practices to create
alternative sources of income
• Opportunities to recognize and reward land use
innovations (e.g. payments for environmental
services)
• Participatory processes for integrated natural
resource management

10. Landscape-scale Conservation
• Integrating the
management of:
– Protected Areas
– Watersheds
– Degraded forests
– Farms and Plantations
• To accommodate:
– Species and habitat
conservation needs
– Ecological processes
– Effects of biophysical
changes such as climate
– Traditional or
subsistence livelihood
practices

11. The science and practice of agroforestry
embodies several conservation
principles that are amenable to
landscape approaches

12. Principle 1:
Maintaining genetic diversity of
exploited species through in situ
and ex situ conservation

13. Domestication of high value
indigenous trees
1. Product
development
2. Business
development
3. Marketing

14. Principle 2:
Protecting biodiversity and
enhancing ecological
processes

15. Agroforestry for Biodiversity: ‘Shade’ coffee
‘Shade coffee’ supports diversity of avifauna in
the landscape.

16. AF in the Humid Tropics & C Stocks
400
Primary Forest
Vegetation Carbon
300
Managed forest
200
(Mg ha-1)
Tree-based systems
100
Crops, Pastures,
Grasslands
0
Soil Carbon
100
From ASB Climate Change Working Group,Palm et al.

17. Principle 3:
Management and conservation of
belowground biodiversity

18. Tephrosia candida fallow: Nutrient
Cycling by: Leaf Litter; BNF; Deep
capture

20. Principle 4:
Improvement and sustainable
management of landscapes for
livelihoods and biodiversity

21. Improved fallows
Clearing
Miombo woodlands
Grass fallow
continuous cropping
Poor yields
NPK Fertilizer
Improved fallow Improved yields

22. LIVE FENCES
Fencing is a major
cause of deforestation
in drier areas.
Live fences are
alternatives to
dead fences—limit
tree clearance—
and are sources of
Jatropha income .

23. Harvey et al. 2005

24. Rotational Woodlots
Acacia species yield approx 100t/ha after 5 years

25. Principle 5:
Addressing livelihood needs in the
margins of conservation areas

26. Effective management of protected buffer zones to
reduce encroachment
e.g. ICRAF’s work in Philippines

27. How can Agroforestry be
mainstreamed in Biodiversity
Conservation?

28. Option 1
• Linking agroforestry
science to landscape
conservation planning
– targeting agroforestry
innovations for habitat
connectivity
– landscape reclamation or
restoration
– improving land productivity
and habitat quality for wild
species
Strategic alliances with mainstream conservation NGOs

29. Option 2
• Use of INRM approaches for defining
livelihood priorities and tree-based
options in conservation landscapes
– Tradeoff analysis in the forest margins (e.g.
ASB Matrix)
– Negotiation support systems for conflict
management
– Collective action for improved natural
resource management (e.g. Landcare)

30. Option 3
• Engaging conservation
biologists in the science
and practice of
agroforestry
– defining biodiversity targets
– analyzing metapopulation
dynamics
– mitigating impacts of climate
change
– types of trees, spatial
configurations of trees,
densities of trees

31. Option 4
• Expanding the range
of agroforestry options
offered to farmers to
enhance conservation
values
– enhance the use of
multiple species of
trees, especially
indigenous species,to
diversify production
landscapes

32. Option 5
• Harnessing and
maintaining complex
agroforestry systems for
biodiversity conservation
– rewards and incentive
mechanisms for poor
farmers engaged in
conservation-friendly
practices (e.g. shade
coffee, rubber
agroforests)

33. Option 6
• Promoting more
systematic studies of
species interactions
and ecological
processes in
agroforestry systems
– understanding the risks of
invasiveness for alien
tree species
– habitat use by wild
species, including
corridors
– watershed management

34. Option 7
• Integrating agroforestry into Conservation
Biology Curricula, with topics such as:
– Domestication of high value tree species
– Managing trees for improved landscapes
– Managing trees to mitigate the effects of biophysical
changes
– Integrating trees in landscapes to enhance
environmental services
– Assessing and rewarding environmental stewardship in
agroecosystems
– Value-adding for tree-based practices to create options
for improved livelihoods in conservation areas

35. Option 8
• Linking agroforestry science to global and
regional environmental policy process
– Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
endorsement – major achievement!
– CBD Programmes of Work on agricultural
biodiversity; Global Strategy for Plant
Conservation
– UNCCD – reversing land degradation in the
drylands
– UNFCCC – climate change adaptation and
mitigation; clean development mechanism
– NEPAD Environment Initiative

36. Implications for ICRAF’s
‘Emerging Science’

37. Emerging Science? (1)
• Are we putting agroforests or agroforestry
systems into landscape contexts?
– Value-adding options for linking “farms” at
landscape scale
– Restoration or recovery of degraded lands
– Optimizing land use practices for native
biodiversity (plants, animals)
– Optimizing land use practices to mitigate
alien invasives
– Climate change adapation

38. Emerging Science? (2)
• How does agroforests or agroforestry
systems influence landscape scale
patterns/processes and vice versa?
– Hydrological processes - watersheds
– Agroforestry “stepping stones” as biological
corridors
– Erosion control on slopes
– Climate change mitigation - Carbon
sequestration
Mainly SE Asia, some work in Western Kenya

40. Strategic Alliances
• ICRAF-CIFOR Biodiversity Platform
– Understanding tropical landscape mosaics to improve
livelihoods and conserve biodiversity
• ICRAF-CI Hotspots Alliance
– Science for climate change adaptation, habitat
recovery and sustainable livelihoods in tropical
hotspots and high biodiversity wilderness areas
• ICRAF-WWF Carbon Alliance
– Delivering cost-effective greenhouse gas emission
reductions, while promoting biodiversity conservation,
sustainable land use and improvements in rural
livelihoods