Lobbying in Brussels for Agroforestry

 

One of the missions of EURAF is to advocate for agroforestry in European institutions and we are very active in that aspect. EURAF is participating in different European Union bodies linked to the European Commission but also work with the European Parliament.

Within the European Commission, EURAF is part of different civil dialogue groups (CAP, Rural Development, Environment and Climate Change, Forestry and Cork, Direct Payments and Greening, Arable Crops and Organic Farming ) EURAF is also involved in the ENRD and in the ESIF bodies.

Within the European Parliament several meetings have been organized to show the benefits of agroforestry practices in Europe. In  the last one, over eighty people from across Europe attended a successful agroforestry meeting at the European Parliament on 29^th November 2017. The meeting entitled “1 + 1 = 3” was hosted by MEP Paul Brannen and comprised presentations of the results of the AGFORWARD project and a discussion panel.

The presentation of the results of the AGFORWARD project started with the presentation of Paul Burguess, co-ordinator of the AGFORWARD project. Paul Burguess (Cranfield University) explained how agroforestry is boosting the revenue and resilience of Europe’s farmers. Other presentations were “Agroforestry: debating the future (and present!) of our farming” carried out by Fabien Balaguer (French Agroforestry Association) and “How can policy support the uptake of agroforestry in Europe?” by María Rosa Mosquera-Losada (University of Santiago de Compostela and current president of EURAF).

The discussion panel examined ways to mainstream agroforestry in Europe. The panel comprised Olivier De Schutter (Co-chair of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems), Valentin Opfermann (Policy Advisor on Agricultural and Environmental Research and Environmental Issues at COPA-COGECA), Patrick Worms (Senior Science Policy Adviser at the World Agroforestry Centre) and Frédéric Morand (Farmer and founder of Vert d’Iris International). 

The meeting concluded with a reception in which all those present continued to discuss the best ways to boost the agroforestry throughout Europe.

The panel and speakers at the agroforestry meeting in the European Parliament were Frédéric Morand, Valentin Opfermann, Olivier De Schutter, María Rosa Mosquera-Losada, Paul Burgess, Fabien Balaguer, Patrick Worms, and the host was Paul Brannen MEP.

 

Further reading:

Mosquera-Losada, M.R., Santiago Freijanes, J.J., Pisanelli, A., Rois, M., Smith, J., den Herder, M., Moreno, G., Lamersdorf, N., Ferreiro-Domínguez, N., Balaguer, F., Pantera, A., Papanastasis, V., Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A., Aldrey, J.A., Gonzalez-Hernández, P., Fernández-Lorenzo, J.L., Romero-Franco, R., Lampkin, N., Burgess, P.J. (2017). Deliverable 8.24: How can policy support the appropriate development and uptake of agroforestry in Europe? 7 September 2017. 21 pp.

Mosquera-Losada, M.R., Santiago Freijanes, J.J., Pisanelli, A., Rois, M., Smith, J., den Herder, M., Moreno, G., Malignier, N., Mirazo, J.R., Lamersdorf, N., Ferreiro-Domínguez, N., Balaguer, F., Pantera, A., Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A., Gonzalez-Hernández, P., Fernández-Lorenzo J.L., Romero-Franco, R., Chalmin, A., Garcia de Jalon, S., Garnett, K., Graves, A., Burgess, P.J. (2016). Extent and success of current policy measures to promote agroforestry across Europe.Deliverable 8.23 for EU FP7 Research Project: AGFORWARD 613520. (8 December 2016). 95 pp.