Report by Piet Rombouts
Because of Corona a lot of students could not have their practical work period in companies. We took advantage of this; together with five students groups we have started investigations:
- Agroforestry in Brabant. Inventory by students all agroforestry farms in the province of Brabant; how many, which species and varieties of trees are present at farms and in which systems. This is necessary to know what is present, in which line agroforesrty in Brabant is developing, to make exchange possible, etc. . All 100 farms in the existing provincianal network will be approached for this. The results of this inventory will be accessible to everyone on the map that will appear here and Euraf website.
- The use of wood from agroforestry in construction? Orientation research five students of Business Development of the University of Utrecht on possibilities to use wood from agroforestry in construction. What are opportunities and obstacles? Supervised by the Province of N.-Br., Rijkswaterstaat, Farmlife/ Forestry experts, WUR and a few interested construction companies. Research proposal available in English.
- Ecosystem services agroforestry. Research of 5 other Business Development students from Business Development of the University of Utrecht on ecosystem services agroforestry in urban environment compared to multi-functional forest. Talking about ecosystem services; is it more effective and efficient to construct agroforestry (costs and benefits) than to invest in multifunctional forest? Research proposal available in English.
- Influence of agroforestry on biodiversity. Utrecht University research into the value of agroforesrty to biodiversity. The research will focus on insects and related to them the birds around agroforestry. They also look to the influence of agroforestry related soil life on these biodiversity groups.
- Agroforestry business model. Research HAS Den Bosch. There is currently a lot of interest in agroforestry in Brabant. However, it is important to gain a better insight into the possible earnings model of the various forms of agroforestry. Research question: How can a good earning model for different forms of agroforestry be created.
In case of questions or if you want to receive a research proposal please contact Piet [at] RomboutsAgroEco [dot] nl