Search

• Increasing tree cover on agricultural land is a way to enhance ecosystem services. • The benefits, costs and effects on beneficiaries of increasing tree cover is uneven. • Land-sparing can increase regulating benefits but reduces provisioning benefits. • Land-sharing can increase regulating benefits and maintain provisioning benefits. Increasing tree cover on agricultural land is recognised as a potential mechanism to enhance ecosystem services. In this case study, we assessed and mapped the impacts on ecosystem services and dis-services of different land-sparing and land-sharing strategies for tree cover expansion on grassland and arable land in the Welsh uplands. In addition, we modelled the impacts of widespread adoption of these strategies on grassland and arable land on the total basket of ecosystem services derived from the Welsh uplands. Our modelling over a 120-year period suggests land-sharing strategies (agroforestry options) could lead to the greatest potential increase in ecosystem service benefits (+£2.62 billion for the Agroforestry – in field trees option). Such land-sharing strategies deliver a basket of ecosystem services primarily focused on private provisioning benefits, with only modest increases in public regulation and maintenance benefits. In contrast, land-sparing strategies (full afforestation options) deliver the highest level of public regulation and maintenance benefits (£7.60 billion), but at the cost of provisioning benefits (−£17.13 billion). Land-sharing strategies (agroforestry options) provide the highest level of in-situ ecosystem service benefits. Land-sparing strategies (full afforestation options) primarily provide ex-situ ecosystem service benefits and are likely to require livelihood shifts for private landowners and occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Humans derive multiple benefits and costs from upland land use in Wales. • The economic value of these benefits and costs is currently uncaptured. • The contribution of different land uses to these benefits is unbalanced. • Upland agriculture in Wales provides the highest economic value of benefits per hectare. • There is however scope to increase the public benefits of upland agricultural land use. Upland land use in Wales has high potential value in relation to the delivery of ecosystem services which is currently uncaptured. In this study we assessed the ecosystem services and dis-services generated by the two dominant land uses (forestry and agricultural) in the uplands of Wales in qualitative and monetary units. We also mapped the distribution of ecosystem services and dis-services across the two dominant land uses. Our results provide an initial baseline estimate of the supply and economic value of ecosystem services and dis-services from upland forestry and agricultural land use in Wales. The qualitative assessment showed the highest levels of ecosystem service supply were derived from forestry land use and the highest levels of ecosystem dis-services were derived from agricultural land use. The economic value of ecosystem service benefits from upland land use in Wales is £1,472.25 million year−1 and the total costs of ecosystem dis-services are £101.54 million year−1 using 2018 values. When an economic weighting is applied the per hectare economic value of ecosystem service benefits from agriculture at £1,434.02 ha−1 year−1 is higher than that of forestry at £1,261.09 ha−1 year−1 and the per hectare costs of ecosystem dis-services from agriculture at £96.10 ha−1 year−1 was marginally lower than that of forestry at £98.58 ha−1 year−1. Overall our results highlight an imbalance in the current delivery of ecosystem services from upland land use in Wales with the majority of benefits coming in the form of private benefits through provisioning services. By using systematic qualitative and economic assessment tools this study has highlighted critical data gaps and provides a basis for rebalancing ecosystem service delivery and increasing levels of public benefits through expansion of tree cover within the Welsh uplands. Our mapping highlights where land use adaption and transformation may be approached to address the imbalance in ecosystem service supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 94% of the land of northwestern Vietnam is classified as sloping. Population growth has exerted pressure on local natural resources, with agricultural expansion on steep slopes resulting in forest degradation, landscape fragmentation and severe environmental consequences. Efforts to restore forest ecosystems have been made by the government, however, as the livelihoods of 80% of the population depend on agriculture, the reconversion of land to forest has proven to be an inappropriate solution. Agroforestry offers a potentially sustainable land-use solution, which could re-establish forests, restore ecosystem services, and stabilize local livelihoods. In this paper, we assess the potential of agroforestry development in the region based on the results of two interrelated surveys conducted in 21 representative villages in six districts of three northwestern provinces: 1) a farming system diagnosis implemented in 17 representative villages; and 2) an agroforestry adoption survey with 210 households practising agroforestry in 14 villages. The analysis was strengthened by four years’ experience in implementing an extensive agroforestry project in the region. The studies focussed on assessing key benefits and constraints of existing farming systems, including agroforestry practices, adopted by farmers and identifying the potential for agroforestry development in the region. The results showed that the dominant farming system in the north-western provinces was monoculture of staple crops on slopes, which provided relatively low economic returns. Soil erosion, land degradation, and water shortages resultant from intensive farming practices were the most significant environmental issues in the area. Tree-based farming systems were rare and mostly a result of spontaneous adoption by farmers. Given the mountainous landscape and the need for soil stabilization, agroforestry was seen by farmers as a viable approach. Improving the existing and adopting new, integrated agroforestry systems were identified as viable ways toward sustainable livelihoods in Northwestern Vietnam.

Despite substantial growth in global agricultural production, food and nutritional insecurity is rising in Sub-Saharan Africa. Identification of underutilised indigenous crops with useful food security traits may provide part of the solution. Enset ( Ensete ventricosum ) is a perennial banana relative with cultivation restricted to southwestern Ethiopia, where high productivity and harvest flexibility enables it to provide a starch staple for ∼20 million people. An extensive wild distribution suggests that a much larger region may be climatically suitable for cultivation. Here we use ensemble ecological niche modelling to predict the potential range for enset cultivation within southern and eastern Africa. We find contemporary bioclimatic suitability for a 12-fold range expansion, equating to 21.9% of crop land and 28.4% of the population in the region. Integration of crop wild relative diversity, which has broader climate tolerance, could enable a 19-fold expansion, particularly to dryer and warmer regions. Whilst climate change may cause a 37%–52% reduction in potential range by 2070, large centres of suitability remain in the Ethiopian Highlands, Lake Victoria region and the Drakensberg Range. We combine our bioclimatic assessment with socioeconomic data to identify priority areas with high population density, seasonal food deficits and predominantly small-scale subsistence agriculture, where integrating enset may be particularly feasible and deliver climate resilience. When incorporating the genetic potential of wild populations, enset cultivation might prove feasible for an additional 87.2–111.5 million people, 27.7–33 million of which are in Ethiopia outside of enset’s current cultivation range. Finally, we consider explanations why enset cultivation has not expanded historically, and ethical implications of expanding previously underutilised species.

In recent decades in northwest Vietnam, Arabica coffee has been grown on sloping land in intensive, full sun monocultures that are not sustainable in the long term and have negative environmental impacts. There is an urgent need to reverse this negative trend by promoting good agricultural practices, including agroforestry, to prevent further deforestation and soil erosion on slopes. A survey of 124 farmers from three indigenous groups was conducted in northwest Vietnam to document coffee agroforestry practices and the ecosystem services associated with different tree species used in them. Trees were ranked according to the main ecosystem services and disservices considered to be locally relevant by rural communities. Our results show that tree species richness in agroforestry plots was much higher for coffee compared to non-coffee plots, including those with annual crops and tree plantations. Most farmers were aware of the benefits of trees for soil improvement, shelter (from wind and frost), and the provision of shade and mulch. In contrast, farmers had limited knowledge of the impact of trees on coffee quality and other interactions amongst trees and coffee. Farmers ranked the leguminous tree species Leucaena leucocephala as the best for incorporating in coffee plots because of the services it provides to coffee. Nonetheless, the farmers’ selection of tree species to combine with coffee was highly influenced by economic benefits provided, especially by intercropped fruit trees, which was influenced by market access, determined by the proximity of farms to a main road. The findings from this research will help local extension institutions and farmers select appropriate tree species that suit the local context and that match household needs and constraints, thereby facilitating the transition to a more sustainable and climate-smart coffee production practice.