4-6 June 2014

2nd European Agroforestry Conference

Members of AGFORWARD played a key role in the 2nd European Agroforestry Conference held at Cottbus in Germany on 4-6 June 2014.  The conference organised by the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) was hosted by Prof Dirk Freese of Brandenburg University of Technology.  Outgoing EURAF president Dr Christian Dupraz explained that the new European agricultural policies gave opportunities for national governments to support the integration of trees with farming.   The implementation of these policies were being determined at a national level.

The conference theme was how to integrate science and policy to promote agroforestry.  Platform presentations by AGFORWARD members included pasture management under hardwood plantations (Gerardo Moreno, University of Extremadura), the role of rural development policy in supporting agroforestry (Andrea Pisaneli, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), pig production in extensive chestnut systems (Rosa Mosquera-Losada, University of Santiago de Compostela), and the economics of woodland eggs (Paul Burgess, Cranfield University).  Other platform presentations included alley coppice systems (Piero Paris, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) and the valuation of grazing resources in the Spanish dehesa (Paula Gaspar, University of Extremadura).   AGFORWARD members working in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK also presented posters of their research.   The European Agroforestry Federation has published a book of abstracts from the conference, where João Palma (University of Lisbon) is the lead editor.

In the final part of the conference, delegates met with German farmers and saw examples of traditional and modern agroforestry practice in the field.   During the Conference, AGFORWARD member Prof Rosa Mosquera-Losada was elected as the new President of the European Agroforestry Federation.  The 3rd European Agroforestry Conference is planned for June 2016.

Go back