Agroforestry and the Future of Global Land Use

Abstract

Positive forest transitions are now occurring in many countries in both the tropical and temperate zones. During the 1990s, 38% of the world’s countries experienced increases in forest cover, particularly in Europe, North America, and East and South Asia. Evidence is also mounting that the number of trees on farms is increasing the world over. About 1 billion ha of agricultural land has more than 10% tree cover. Concerns about the availability and cost of wood resources, the growing awareness about environmental issues, and the opportunities for agroforestry to better address food insecurity will enhance expansion of tree planting on farms in many tropical countries. A substantial increase of trees on croplands, or what we now call EverGreen Agriculture, will be going to be an inevitable phenomenon in the future. The future of trees (and forests) is on farms.