Over the past 3 decades or so there has been a progressively growing interest in the diversity of different types of land use systems and the roles they play in stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations as well as mitigating CO2 emissions. Specific interest has been shown towards agroforestry systems and their ability to sequester carbons in above and below ground biomass while simultaneously enhancing global carbon sinks (Dixon et al. 1994). Agroforestry offers the opportunities to syndicate the twin objectives of adapting to climate change and mitigating the change. Although agroforestry has the potential to deliver extensive mitigation opportunities these can only be achieved though proper management practices which directly
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Reforestation of degraded natural forests has a long history of being useful in climate mitigation but is often confused with agroforestry; its important to note the difference between reforestation and agroforestry and the distinct benefits associated with both (Makundi et al., 2004). Agroforestry along side cropping systems is specifically beneficial in sequestering carbon while also improving soil fertility, controlling soil degradation, neutralizing soil acidification and increasing biodiversity (Makundi et al., 2004). It also has the ability to increase the resilience of the system to withstand the adverse impacts of climate …show more content…
Furthermore, there is currently about 630 Mha of unproductive cropland and grasslands that have the potential to be transformed into agroforestry systems allowing for a carbon sequestering increase of 586,000 MgC/year by 2040 (Montagnini et al., 2004). Studies show that unused land in the humid tropics, such as those seen in southeast Asia, have the capacity to store 12-228 MgC/ha while the dry lowlands of the region are able to store 90-198 MgC/ha (Montagnini et al.,
Reforestation of degraded natural forests has a long history of being useful in climate mitigation but is often confused with agroforestry; its important to note the difference between reforestation and agroforestry and the distinct benefits associated with both (Makundi et al., 2004). Agroforestry along side cropping systems is specifically beneficial in sequestering carbon while also improving soil fertility, controlling soil degradation, neutralizing soil acidification and increasing biodiversity (Makundi et al., 2004). It also has the ability to increase the resilience of the system to withstand the adverse impacts of climate …show more content…
Furthermore, there is currently about 630 Mha of unproductive cropland and grasslands that have the potential to be transformed into agroforestry systems allowing for a carbon sequestering increase of 586,000 MgC/year by 2040 (Montagnini et al., 2004). Studies show that unused land in the humid tropics, such as those seen in southeast Asia, have the capacity to store 12-228 MgC/ha while the dry lowlands of the region are able to store 90-198 MgC/ha (Montagnini et al.,