Pdf version of this newsletter
1.1 AGROFORESTRY LOBBYING IN BRUSSELS
2.1 REINDEER HUSBANDRY IN FENNOSCANDIA
2.2 THE INTEREST FOR AGROFORESTRY IS GAINING SPEED IN SWEDEN
2.3 A FESTIVAL FOR THE CURLY-HAIRED MANGALICA PIG IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
2.4 SMART PROJECT - AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS ASSOCIATING FRUITS & VETETABLES (FRANCE)
2.5 AGROFORESTRY NEWS FROM ITALY
3. FEATURED "FARM": WAKELYNS AGROFORESTRY - A DIVERSE ORGANIC SILVOARABLE SYSTEM IN THE UK
1.1 Recent EURAF Policy Activities
EURAF has been active in Brussels, again over the past month. Gerry Lawson and Rosa Mosquera attended to the first meeting of the CAP Civil Dialogue Group (CDG) and took every opportunity to stress the role of agroforestry. EURAF representatives (Jeroen Watté, Jabier Ruiz and Patrick Worms) were also present in the two Arable Crop CDG meetings held last month.
Furthermore, the Steering Committee of the European Rural Development Network (ENRD) met last month and EURAF, represented by Rosa Mosquera, was able to share the floor with the National Rural Development representatives. Our National EURAF Delegates are trying to influence the forthcoming National Rural Development Networks in their respective countries in order to promote agroforestry schemes at a national level.
The first meeting of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP), a subgroup of the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD), was held during the last month. EURAF, represented by Rosa Mosquera, advocated a greater role for agroforestry in the EIP, and it was accepted that agroforestry should be a EIP focus group.
The Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament (COMAGRI) is still drafting its opinion on the European Forestry Strategy (published by the Commission in September 2013 and endorsed by the EU Council in May 2014). The initial version made no reference to agroforestry. That’s why EURAF (Rosa Mosquera and Gerry Lawson) approached members of the European Parliament, including those in charge of the COMAGRI and ENV reports, hoping that agroforestry will be included in the version approved by the Parliament at the end of March and subsequently by the Council. This should ensure that agroforestry plays a more prominent role in the Multi-Year Implementation Plan for the Forest Strategy.
EURAF, represented by Nathan De Baets, also attended a meeting on Climate Change mitigation with the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), and was asked to provide a document explaining the role that agroforestry could play, both in mitigation (greenhouse gas emissions reduction) and in adaptation to climate change (see “Agroforestry as a Climate Change Mitigation Measure in European Agriculture”). Paul Burgess and Robert Borek also contributed to Agroforestry lobbying within the DG CLIMA. EURAF, represented by Gerry Lawson, Nathan De Baets and Rosa Mosquera, also made a submission to a DG CLIMA enquiry on reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, arguing that agroforestry projects within Europe should be eligible for the EU ETS, particularly following publication of European Council’s Framework for Climate and Energy 2030, which invites the Commission to examine the best means of encouraging the sustainable intensification of food production, while optimizing the sector's contribution to greenhouse gas mitigation and sequestration, including through afforestation. Policy on how to include Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry into the 2030 greenhouse gas mitigation framework will be established as soon as technical conditions allow and in any case before 2020.
Source: mrosa [dot] mosquera [dot] losada [at] USC [dot] ES (Rosa Mosquera) - EURAF president, gerrylawson [at] ntlworld [dot] com (Gerry Lawson) - EURAF deputy president, nathan [dot] debaets [at] ecoressources [dot] com (Nathan De Baets) - agroforestry advisor, March 2015.
2.1 Reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia
When you talk about reindeer husbandry, it is likely that most people will not immediately notice that you are talking about a typical agroforestry practice. However, in fact it is a type of silvopastoral livestock management and it is often linked to transhumance, the seasonal movement of herds. Transhumance was once widely practiced in Europe but it has declined substantially over the last two centuries. Now there are only few areas left in Europe where this silvopastoral practice exists and some of these areas can still be found in northernmost Fennoscandia.
Reindeer husbandry has a very long tradition in northernmost Fennoscandia and goes back to pre-historic times. At first reindeer population numbers were kept low by hunting. Later, small-scale herding started when wild reindeer populations started to decrease. More large-scale nomadic herding by the Sámi people developed during the 17th century. During the 20th century, management-intensive reindeer herding shifted to a more extensive form of reindeer herding and reindeer numbers started to increase. With the modernisation of reindeer-husbandry, such as the introduction of supplementary feeding and modern veterinary practices, reindeer numbers reached their peak in the 1990s after which population numbers decreased slightly. Nowadays there are about 200,000 reindeer in Finland. Sweden and Norway have comparable numbers of reindeer which remained relatively stable over the last decades around the current level.
Fig. 1. This chalk drawing found in Alta, Norway, dates back 5000 - 6000 years and depicts hunting for wild deer and even the reindeer round-up. Guiding fences were also used to guide reindeer to trapping pits. Photo taken by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen in August 2004 in Alta, Norway (source: www.wikipedia.org)
Reindeer are allowed to graze freely, independent of the landowner, in the reindeer husbandry region in the northern parts of Fennoscandia. The animals are rounded up around mid-summer for the calves to be marked, and in the autumn for the annual slaughter. The owners can identify their reindeer by their ear marks. In Finland, there are about 5,000 reindeer owners and the reindeer husbandry area is divided into so-called reindeer husbandry districts, where all herders work together in managing their herds.
Fig. 2: Development of the number (number in winter after culling) of domestic reindeer in Finland (statistics from the Finnish Reindeer Herders’ Association, Rovaniemi, Finland)
In the olden days, reindeer made very large seasonal migrations of up to several hundreds to thousands of kilometres. Nowadays there are no large seasonal migrations anymore as the reindeer stay within the borders of the reindeer herding cooperatives year round. However, there are still small seasonal migrations between the boreal forest in winter and open tundra and mountain tops in summer, mainly to find good grazing grounds and to avoid the clouds of stinging mosquitoes and other bugs which rule the Nordic forests in summer.
There are some difficulties in passing the tradition to the younger generation as many young people move away from the smaller villages in the north towards the larger cities such as Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo in the south in pursuit of education, a career or family life. However, the reindeer herding tradition is still very much alive and the number of reindeer and herders has remained relatively stable over the last decade.
Even though reindeer herding is a traditional way of life, modern day technology has also made its appearance. In the olden days, the herds were managed by following them by foot or on skis. When snow mobiles became available it the made the lives of reindeer herders much easier and nowadays some herds are even gathered with the aid of helicopter. New inventions, such as GPS positioning systems and GPS monitoring of the herds will probably still make reindeer management easier and may lead to considerable time and fuel savings. One of the case studies in the AGFORWARD project is currently testing the feasibility and possible advantages of using GPS in reindeer herd management in the Njaarke Sámi village in the Swedish mountains.
Fig. 3: Gathering of reindeer before movement to winter grazing area. Photo by Daana Fjällberg of the Njaarke Sámi village.
Finland produces annually on average about 2.4 million kg of reindeer meat and it is an important export product of the Scandinavian countries. Although reindeer have their main habitat in the very north, also in downtown Helsinki it is possible to enjoy some reindeer dish and experience the Nordic cuisine. “Poronkaristys”, or sautéed reindeer, is the best known dish based on fresh reindeer meat. Warm or cold-smoked reindeer meat is also excellent.
Source: michael [dot] denherder [at] efi [dot] int (Michael den Herder), researcher at the European Forest Institute in Joensuu (Finland) & member of the AGFORWARD project. March 2015.
2.2 The interest for Agroforestry is gaining speed in Sweden
On the 7-9th of November 2014, Sweden had their first official Agroforestry Network Meeting for Nordic climates in the little village of Stjärnsund, Dalarna. The event was fully booked hosting more than 75 enthusiastic farmers, smallholders and representatives from Swedish Universities, NGOs and Agricultural and environmental interest groups. The aim of the weekend was to forge closer ties between all who are interested and active within the field. The event turned into a successful initial meeting with lots of ideas, inspiration and exchanged experiences. The set-up was largely structured around participants' own experiences and interests so there was plenty of time for constructive discussions on the schedule, but also presentations from farmers who are at the forefront within the field of Agroforestry in Sweden. One of those farmers is Kjell Sjelin who, among many other things, is participating in a research project with perennial wheat at his farm in the Uppsala Region. Another farmer with great dedication is Ulf Karlmats who has a Silvopasture project mixing birch and animals since the 90s. Kjell Sjelin and others involved in the research project Sustainable food production in Sweden - the potential with agroforestry systems shared their experiences on forest gardening even if the project is still in its early days - it started in 2012. We look forward to hearing about their progress. The experiences and outcomes of the network meeting have been summarized and we are now making plans for the next Agroforestry Conference in Gothenburg in the early/mid November 2015. This event will be arranged in support and cooperation with Urban Rural Gothenburg (city of Gothenburg) Chalmers in connection with the international agroforestry research networks Fucali and Siani, among others. More information about the event will be published soon on the following websites: www.utvecklingnordost.se, www.skogsjordbrukvast.se.
Please follow this link for pictures of the Agroforestry Network Meeting.
Source: annevi [dot] lakemountain [at] gmail [dot] com (Annevi Sjöberg), Permakultur Stjärnsund, March 2015.
2.3 A festival for the curly-haired Mangalica pig in Budapest, Hungary
The 8th Mangalica festival was held downtown in Budapest from February 6 - 8 and was all about the curly-haired Mangalica pig, a Hungarian traditional breed, which came close to extinction just a few decades ago. The pig was created by cross-breeding old extensive pig breeds of the Carpathian-basin at the beginning of the 19th century. The specialties of this pig are the high content of lard and a hairy coat similar to that of sheep. Swallow-bellied, blond and black Mangalica breeds can be found.
The Budapest festival was just one of a national series, organized by the Hungarian National Association of Mangalica Pig Breeders. During the festival the visitors could taste and buy a variety of products, mainly sausages, salami and bacon, offered by more than 30 local Mangalica farmers and meat producers. The festival was not only a gastronomic event, but also a good example for a fair-trade movement. It also highlighted the need for healthy high quality food for the public and for professional gastronomy - among the jury of a Mangalica cooking competition were celebrated chefs, e.g. a member of the Hungarian Academy Bocuse d`Or.
Fig. 4 (left): Mangalica pig in a small farm in South-Hungary (Bürge-tanya), photo by Edina Mráz
Fig. 5 (middle): Tasty Mangalica meat at the festival in Budapest, photo by Anna Varga
Fig. 6 (right): Silvopastoral Mangalica farm in Virágoskút, Eastern Hungary, photo by Dr. Péter Szabó
Traditionally, the Mangalica and other extensive pig breeds were mainly kept on wood pastures, in silvopastoral agroforestry systems in the past. The mast feeding, pannage, was an important part of the autumn feeding. This extensive management approach and extensive breeds disappeared nearly completely during the last fifty years. In 1991 only 198 Mangalica were alive worldwide. The association started to revive the breed and supported the breeders. Nowadays, 60.000 Mangalica’s are produced annually: 40.000 reach the local markets with direct marketing from farms, 20.000 go to international markets through slaughterhouses. Today there are more than 150 smaller and ten bigger farms with 100 to 600 sows each and the Mangalica became a symbol for rural development, agrotourism and maintenance of biocultural diversity.
Many Mangalica farmers show interest in agroforestry systems, but only a few are using the benefits consciously; many are hindered by landuse regulations and other policy obstructions. During the festival many Mangalica farmers expressed strong interest in to learn about management of well-conceived traditional silvopastoral systems.
The website of the Hungarian National Association of Mangalica Breeders provides further information in English & Hungarian language. A well done documentary film ”Történet a mangalicáról" ("Story of the Mangalica pig", in Hungarian language) went online in March 2015.
Source: varga [dot] anna [at] gmail [dot] com (Anna Varga), MTA, Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, NyME-KKK KFT, Sopron, Hungary, March 2015.
2.4 SMART Project - Agroforestry Systems associating fruits & vegetables (France)
Agroforestry systems mixing fruit trees and annual crops were very well developed and studied in southern countries, but they have been forgotten and neglected during the last 40 years in France and Europe. Current trends and challenges in agriculture - as young farmers’ difficulties in accessing land, periurban agricultural forms, the need to reduce agricultural inputs through functional biodiversity and diversification - persuaded especially smaller farmers in France to combine annual plants and fruits with the aim to increase their plot performance on a multifunctional basis. The number of such plots has increased significantly especially during the past six years:
The SMART project started in 2014 with the objectives to:
(i) Identify those farmers and establishing a map of their farms;
(ii) Better understand the farmers’ motivations and choices;
(iii) Understand interactions and synergies in farmer’s plots;
(iv) Share information among members of the network.
Fig. 7: Estimated number of agroforestry plots combining fruit trees and annual crops in France
The SMART project is a co-operation of 16 partners situated in three French regions. Interviews with farmers have been carried out in 2014 and will result in a typology of agroforestry systems with fruits. Based on these interviews, the farmers’ priorities in performance characterization have been identified, and simple indicators have been shaped or selected with farmers until early 2015. To find adequate indicators, for example to describe biodiversity and sustainability, the national protocols established by the National Museum of Natural History have been considered.
Fig. 8: Project Logo
Indicators are provided to farmers for self-assessment of their plots, starting in 2015. Farmers showed keen interest in the regional on-farm events organized by the project. These events are carried out with the objective to increase and share knowledge and know-how on various topics. Many reports (in French) of these field trips are available here. A video (in French, 10 min) explains why such agroforestry systems are of relevancy for farmers.
To obtain further information you are invited to visit the project’s website (in French) or to contact francois [dot] warlop [at] grab [dot] fr (François Warlop) and aubin [dot] lafon [at] agroforesterie [dot] fr (Aubin Lafon).
Fig. 9: Most agroforestry systems with fruit trees are rather young like this example (showing carrots and apples) in the southwest of France. Photo: Laurent Welsch
Source: francois [dot] warlop [at] grab [dot] fr (François Warlop) is an agronomist, working in a French research group for organic farming called GRAB since 1998. He worked mostly related to stone fruit species, olives, plant protection aspects, and cultivar assessment for organic farming. GRAB developed in the last years a systemic approach for organic cropping systems, and is addressing agroforestry issues since 6 years, especially for small-scale farming with vegetables and fruits. March 2015.
2.5 Agroforestry news from Italy
AIAF's annual meeting and launch of new website
On March 7, the Italian Association for Agroforestry (AIAF), met in Verona for the General Assembly meeting and to launch their new website.
Background information on Agroforestry in Italy and AIAF
Until a few decades ago a major part of the Italian agricultural land was cultivated with traditional agroforestry systems. Even today there are systems of particular interest in vast areas of the country, e.g. the silvopastoral systems of Sardinia and Tuscany, characterized by cork oaks and holm trees. In addition, hedgerows were undergoing a vibrant rediscovery during the past 20 years, especially in the plains of Northern Italy. Hedgerows are increasingly planted for energy purposes and as buffer strips, e.g. to control pollution of agricultural origin. More recently there is a growing interest in reconstructing traditional agroforestry systems, e.g. cultivation of mulberry trees (Morus alba) used for breeding silkworms.
Fig. 10: Traditional Agroforestry System (Photo: Viviana Ferraio)
Fig. 11: Casaria Farm / AIAF headquarter (Photo: Maruo Sangiovanni)
AIAF was created in 2014 by a group of 21 founding members, several of them already being members of EURAF. The association intends to represents the interests of various stakeholders: farmers, agricultural and forestry technicians, civil servants and researchers. AIAF aims to promote new agroforestry systems, with a strong emphasis on pilot farms, vocational training and technical disclosure. In addition the association’s goal is to increase cooperation among researchers, as well the interaction with public authorities in order to eliminate bureaucratic and regulatory impediments that hinder the reconstruction or maintenance of agroforestry systems in Italy nowadays.
AIAF’s headquarter is the Casaria farm (via Frattesina, 35040 Masi, Veneto region), a beautiful farm situated in the Veneto plain. In recent years, the farm has established agroforestry systems on the entire farm surface.
Contact AIAF: www.agroforestry.it; aiaf [at] agroforestry [dot] it (aiaf [at] agroforestry [dot] it)
Source: giustino [dot] mezzalira [at] venetoagricoltura [dot] org (Dr. Giustino Mezzalira), Director of Veneto Agricoltura’s Agricultural and Woodland Research and Management Activities, March 2015.
Agroforestry in Italian RDP's 2014-2020
Six of 20 regions have contemplated the establishment of agroforestry systems within Measure 8 (investments in forest area development and implementation of the viability of forests (art. 21-26), Sub-measure 8.2 (support for the establishment and maintenance of agroforestry systems). Further details can be found here.
Source: andrea [dot] pisanelli [at] ibaf [dot] cnr [dot] it (Andrea Pisanelli )- EURAF National Delegate (Italy); Danilo Marandola - National Institute of Agricultural Economics, Forest Observatory, Italy, March 2015.
3 Featured Farm: Wakelyns Agroforestry - a diverse organic silvoarable system in the UK
The background
A research career in cereal plant pathology convinced me of the value of focused diversity in minimising crop disease, which we were able to demonstrate through several large-scale developments in the use of cereal variety mixtures in the UK, the German Democratic Republic and other countries through the 1970's and 1980's. From this background and, of course, the work of Charles Darwin and others, it was no great leap of imagination to see the value of such functional diversity, not only for controlling diseases, pests and weeds, but also at higher levels in terms of mixed cropping and, ultimately, of agroforestry.
The opportunity to put these integrating thoughts into practice came in the early 1990's when, while living in Switzerland, we bought Wakelyns, a small (23ha) farm in east Suffolk, in the intensive cereal production area of the east of England. The main planting of timber trees was organised for early 1994, with further plantings in 1995 (hazel) and 1998 (willow). Before returning to England in 1997, we also started organic conversion of the whole farm. From earlier contacts with Elm Farm Research Centre (now ORC: the Organic Research Centre), it seemed mutually desirable to focus EFRC's arable crop projects and trials at Wakelyns, which was started formally in 1998.
The general layout of the farm (Google Earth UK postcode IP21 5SD) is a series of 2 ha alley-cropping systems, with all production hedges aligned north-south on each side of 12m wide cropping areas. There are two coppice systems (hazel, willow), two mixed hardwood systems (ash, hornbeam, Italian alder, oak, small-leaved lime, sycamore, wild cherry, with or without apple) and two mixed fruit and nut systems. The organic crop rotation (cereals-ley-potatoes/squash-ley-cereals) runs as a single cycle around the whole farm.
Fig 12: Mixed timber and apple silvoarable system, Wakelyns Agroforestry
Some successes - and some difficulties
Given the lack of information to begin with, and the current lack of sophisticated monitoring tools, the approach appears to have been successful with high outputs of timber production, relatively small impacts on crop production and obvious positive effects on soil quality and biodiversity. The main negative effect has been the limitation on cultivation potential, since all operations are limited to the north-south direction. Weed control is a major feature of the production systems, but this is no different from what would be expected generally in organic farming. It is likely that the negative effect of tree shade on the crops has been offset by positive effects of shelter, nutrient cycling, etc. Potential negative effects of competition for water appear to have been offset by a generally adequate supply of water and improved soil penetrability. 
One particular, but expected, success, was the positive impact on apple diseases and pests of dispersal of the apple trees among the other seven tree species. This provided spatial dispersion of the apple target trees as well as physical buffering of the spread of apple pests and pathogens by the non-host trees and crops. Disease assessments carried out in 2012 as part of the EU project Co-Free recorded levels of apple scab (Venturia inequalis) in the agroforestry were less than half those in a nearby modern organic orchard (Smith et al, 2014). Though not tested, it is reasonable to assume that specialised pests and diseases of each of the other tree species, would have been similarly limited.
A related observation has been the impact of the production hedges on disease spread in the alley crops. In particular, we have observed, over several seasons, the way in which trees can provide a physical barrier to help limit the spread of potato blight from west to east – which would not have occurred with standard open field crops.
Fig 13: Martin on the plot combine harvesting cereals in the willow Short Rotation Coppice, Wakelyns Agroforestry
A major success over the whole period has been development of the coppice systems. This allowed us (almost 10 years ago) to install a woodchip boiler system to generate sustainable and renewable energy for central heating and hot water in the farmhouse. In this context, it is important to underline that the coppice hedges provide many services (better microclimate, pest and disease protection, nutrient cycling, biodiversity habitat) before they deliver coppiced woodchip. Moreover, the alley system ensures a yield of wood per square metre that is well in excess of yields from plantation coppice. In this context we are currently turning to more pollarding as the major method of management for the hardwood trees, both to limit shading of the alley crops and to increase potential fuel production (see below).
Overall, there has been a major increase of biodiversity on the farm which has been positively affected by the tree population. This is evident among both birds and bees, helped by the large proportion of mixed legumes in the crop rotation. Among the birds, it is clear that the site is now more attractive both to typical woodland birds and to those found in lowland arable farms. We regularly see barn and tawny owls, together with buzzards, which indicates an effective food pyramid on the relatively small area of the farm.
In recent years, we have also become increasingly aware of tree regeneration in the production hedges, leading to large numbers of healthy young trees covering all of the species planted, though with changed proportions. Some of these are being replaced by fruit bushes in the understorey.
Fig 14: Potatoes and hazel short rotation coppice silvoarable system, Wakelyns Agroforestry
Future development
One element that has been notably absent so far has been livestock, since we had neither facilities not expertise available to develop such enterprises. A first step in correcting this omission is the introduction of organic, low density, poultry for egg production, using several breeds, with replacements now being bred on-site. The birds are fenced into long alley strips which include the tree hedge as the central element, clearly favoured by the birds because of the shelter from predators and the food and nutrient-rich understorey of the trees. We will shortly begin to rotate the poultry strips around the crop and tree rotations to try to follow the impact of the poultry particularly on pests and weeds.
In terms of the crop-tree interface, we have experiential evidence that oats is much less disturbed by tree proximity than are the other major cereals. However, among all species there is the possibility of breeding and selecting for the ability to grow well in the proximity of trees. Indeed, we have already taken the first steps in this direction through use of our newly developed wheat populations. These are highly diverse so that it is possible to identify and tag individual plants that grow well close to trees. These individuals can be used to create a mixture of wheat genotypes with this ability. Although such diversity certainly exists, we do not know the mechanisms, whether it is shade tolerance, tolerance of water competition, annual-perennial root interactions, or some combination of these and other factors. By selecting the wheat for the ability to grow near any trees, it may be possible to generate a mixture which could be marketed separately for production in a strip close to any hedge in addition to the agroforestry production hedges. This innovation is being researched as part of the EU project AGFORWARD (www.agforward.eu).
One of the most exciting potential developments from increased coppicing and pollarding is the possibility of generating sufficient woodchip to feed an on-farm CHP (combined heat and power) unit, or, in other words, to use agroforestry as a source of renewable electrical as well as heat energy. This could be used as a way of controlling the variable output of on-farm solar and wind systems. Again, it is important to stress that such energy production would be a by-product of a system that is already delivering a range of valuable services.
In this context, it is of crucial importance for the long-term, to record, assess and accumulate the multiple outputs and benefits of such complex systems. One way to do this may be to assess the potential for the contribution of the multiple outputs to local food systems, local economies and local health and welfare.
Source: Prof. Martin Wolfe, owner of Wakelyns Agroforestry, Principal Scientific Advisor of the Organic Research Centre (UK), March 2015.
Reference: Smith, J., Girling, R.D., Wolfe, M.S. and Pearce, B.D. (2014). Agroforestry: Integrating apple and arable production as an approach to reducing copper use in organic and low-input apple production. Agriculture and the Environment X, Delivering Multiple Benefits from our Land: Sustainable Development in Practice Pgs. 278-284
Acorn Symposium: The future of a food with a past (Portugal)
The “Acorn Symposium: The future of a food with a past” was held in Herdade do Freixo do Meio on the 20th of March. It was organized by Alfredo Sendim, a stakeholder involved in the AGFORWARD project. Historical studies reveal that acorns were once the “food of invincible men”. A currently running project (lead by Manuela Pintado, Catholic University of Portugal - Porto Centre) is focusing on the nutritional and functional potentials of acorn, which are gluten-free and contain a high concentration of antioxidants, healthy fats, and chlorogenic acids. This link leads to a video with further information about the potential of and agroforestry systems with acorns.
Source: joaopalma [at] isa [dot] ulisboa [dot] pt (Joao Palma), Center of Forest Studies, Institute of Agronomy, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2015.
New Agroforestry video: Agroforestry - Let's Restore Together
AFAF (Association Française d'Agroforesterie) produced the video last December, it was recently made available in English language.
Source: Denis Asfaux, Secrétaire Association Française d'Agroforesterie), March 2015.
10th National Forestry Conference in Italy
This biennal conference, organized by SISEF (Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology) will take place in Florence, September 15 - 18, 2015. Abstracts for the research area "New opportunities for forest landscapes and agroforestry" can be submitted in English or Italian language until April 30th. Further information on abstracts is available here. Please follow this link to learn about registration details. You are welcome to contact desk [dot] congresso [at] sisef [dot] org to obtain further information.
Source: SISEF website, March 2015.
Farm Woodland Forum's Annual Meeting (UK)
The theme of this year’s meeting (May 18-19) is "Woodfuel from agroforestry". Based on the Organic Research Centre’s Elm Farm, near Newbury, the meeting will include a tour of the various agroforestry demonstrations. Please contact jo [dot] s [at] organicresearchcentre [dot] com (Jo Smith) if you would like to submit a paper. Further programme details will be made available on the Farm Woodland Forum website.
Source: Dr. Jo Smith, Organic Research Centre, March 2015.
This is your newsletter! If there’s anything you think should be included, please pass suggestions to euraf [at] agroforestry [dot] eu (euraf [at] agroforestry [dot] eu) for inclusion in the next issue.
This newsletter is carried out in collaboration with the European AGFORWARD Project.
Editorial Committee: Rosa Mosquera Losada, Gerry Lawson, Jeroen Watté, Adolfo Rosati, Sylvène Laborie-Roussel, Joana Amaral Paulo, Bert Reubens, Bohdan Lojka, Alain Canet, Xavier Devaux, Norbert Lamersdorf, Heinrich Spiecker, Konstantinos Mantzanas, Anastasia Pantera, Andrea Vityi, Andrea Pisanelli, Sami Kryeziu, Robert Borek, João Palma, Gerardo Moreno, Johanna Björklund, Felix Herzog, Mareike Jäger, Mark Vonk, Emiel Anssems, Jo Smith, Mike Strachan, Jabier Ruiz.
Person in charge of the newsletter: Anja Chalmin
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