Management of agroforestry systems: ecological, social and economic approaches

• Autor(a) principal: Fernández-Núñez, Esther
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Castro, Marina
• Tipo de documento: Livro
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/13444

The Intensive Programme of study on “Management of agroforestry systems: ecological, social and economic approaches” resulted from the recognition of the growing importance of agroforestry systems in the European context, in particular, silvopastoral systems in the south of Europe. The European roadmap towards low carbon economy within the 2050 horizon creates enormous challenges for the agriculture sector in terms of its modernization and reconversion for which agroforestry systems are essential technological and sustainable production solutions. At the global scale, challenges resulting from escalating demand for animal and forest products, effects of climate change, loss of natural capital and the search for sustainable development solutions strengthen the importance of agroforestry systems. Several international organizations, among which the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the European Union (EU), have been promoting the development and implementation of these systems. Also, within the context of the United Nations, several conventions – biological diversity, climate change, soil conservation – force deep changes to be made in production systems, to which agroforestry systems are indispensable references. The intensive learning programme on “Management of agroforestry systems: ecological, social and economic approaches” was funded by the European Comission through the ERASMUS program (2013-1-PT1-ERA10-16673- PBRAGANC01). The Intensive Programme took place in Bragança, Portugal, from March 30 to April 12, 2014, and was organized by the Instituto Politécnico de Bragança in collaboration with the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Universidad da Extremadura, and Universidad de Oviedo, in Spain, and the Università degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro, in Italy. The objective of the programme was to share with first and second cycle students from Portugal, Spain and Italy knowledge about implementation and management of agroforestry systems, in particular silvopastoral systems, considering production, economic, environmental and socio-cultural aspects. The programme was an opportunity to discuss practical and theoretical issues iv related to agroforestry systems in different environmental backgrounds, particularly in Atlantic and Mediterrenean regions of the Iberian Peninsula. The programme made it also possible to the intervening institutions to establish cooperation partnerships within the scope of scientific research and knowledge transfer, with emphasis on the production of knowledge on silvopastoral systems materialized in this book. The content of this book corresponds to lectures taught in the programme by the researchers and professors subjected to a peer reviewing process; we would like therefore to acknowledge all authors, reviewers and institutions involved in the Intensive Programme and in this book by their collaboration and the ERASMUS Programme by the financial support provided that made it possible to organize this course on “Management of agroforestry systems: ecological, social and economic approaches”.