 Presenting by

 Jannatul ferdous
 Sinthia rahman
Relationship Of Social
Forestry With Agriculture
Introduction
The agriculture sector sustains the livelihoods of
millions of smallholder families and is at the
center of national policies to alleviate rural
poverty.
However, this need for land for agriculture is also
the main driver of deforestation and land
degradation.
 A major challenge is how to encourage pro-poor
agricultural development while mitigating
deforestation and associated greenhouse gas
emissions.
 There continues to be a lack of depth of
understanding of the relationship between the
social forest and agriculture sectors, which can and
has led to erroneous or partial solutions.
It provides insights into the relationship and helps
decision makers identify and introduce
appropriate interventions that can balance
objectives in the social social forestry and
agriculture sectors. Stronger regulation and
planning at a landscape level are critical
ingredients in order to achieve this.
 Social forests are reservoirs of biodiversity Preservation of their unique genetic
characteristics is vital to the development of improved drugs, pesticides, foods
and materials. To sustain renewable tree harvesting into the future, forest
managers need to replace what they cut. However, social forest plantations can
impact the environment through excessive use of chemical fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides. If in the long term they deplete the soil, these
plantations become unsustainable. These potential impacts can be addressed
in a number of ways, including:
 •
 Adding leguminous species to plantations to improve soil fertility and keep
down weeds, reducing the need for both fertilizers and herbicides,
 •
 Leaving chipped logging residue and bark in the field to reduce nutrient loss
and act as a mulch, which also decreases weed growth and the need for burning
to prepare sites for subsequent plantings,
 •
 Using biological control against insect pests instead of using herbicides.
 Climate also has a significant impact on the growth
and viability of social forests. A steady increase in
average temperatures from global warming could
dramatically alter today’s pattern of tree distribution,
thereby putting certain species under stress and
encouraging the spread of other species..
 In order to understand the adaptability of
indigenous tree species to changes in climate,
researchers in Finland are measuring the success
of various tree species. They have established an
arboretum and a gene pool forest with various
species of conifers and hardwoods to maintain
genetic diversity. The aim is to determine the
factors that regulate tree characteristics, and to
produce different varieties of seeds suitable for
forest regeneration
 Agriculture is another important sector where
phytotechnologies can be applied. The production
and marketing of food and other farm products
such as cotton and tobacco make up the world’s
largest single industrial sector. An important focus
of crop research is to develop plants that are
resistant to insect pests and diseases.
Social Forestry and Agriculture
 Social forests are reservoirs of biodiversity Preservation of their unique genetic
characteristics is vital to the development of improved drugs, pesticides, foods
and materials. To sustain renewable tree harvesting into the future, forest
managers need to replace what they cut. Where forests have grown
undisturbed for centuries, they are often impossible to replace. An important
alternative therefore is to sustain the diversity of tree species through forest
plantations. However, forest plantations can impact the environment through
excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. If in the long
term they deplete the soil, these plantations become unsustainable. These
potential impacts can be addressed in a number of ways, including:
 •
 adding leguminous species to plantations to improve soil fertility and keep
down weeds, reducing the need for both fertilizers and herbicides,
 •
 leaving chipped logging residue and bark in the field to reduce nutrient loss
and act as a mulch, which also decreases weed growth and the need for burning
to prepare sites for subsequent plantings,
 •
 using biological control against insect pests instead of using herbicides.
 Climate also has a significant impact on the growth and viability of forests. A steady increase in
average temperatures from global warming could dramatically alter today’s pattern of tree
distribution, thereby putting certain species under stress and encouraging the spread of other species.
In order to understand the adaptability of indigenous tree species to changes in climate, researchers
in Finland are measuring the success of various tree species. They have established an arboretum and
a gene pool forest with various species of conifers and hardwoods to maintain genetic diversity. The
aim is to determine the factors that regulate tree characteristics, and to produce different varieties of
seeds suitable for forest regeneration.
 Agriculture is another important sector where phytotechnologies can be applied. The production and
marketing of food and other farm products such as cotton and tobacco make up the world’s largest
single industrial sector. An important focus of crop research is to develop plants that are resistant to
insect pests and diseases.
 One of the lessons learned from the widespread spraying of pests is that simplistic approaches to
controlling pests or diseases do not last. Insect pests, with their rapid rates of reproduction, can
quickly evolve resistance to toxic sprays, while the buildup of the same poisons causes populations of
their natural predators to decline. The result is a rebound of organisms that are much harder to get
rid of.
Forestry and Agriculture

 Forests are reservoirs of biodiversity. Preservation of their

unique genetic characteristics is vital to the development of
improved drugs, pesticides, foods and materials. To sustain
renewable tree harvesting into the future, forest managers
need to replace what they cut. Where forests have grown
undisturbed for centuries, they are often impossible to
replace. An important alternative therefore is to sustain the
diversity of tree species through forest plantations.
However, forest plantations can impact the environment
through excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides. If in the long term they deplete the soil, these
plantations become unsustainable. These potential
impacts can be addressed in a number of ways, including:
 •
 adding leguminous species to plantations to improve soil fertility and keep down weeds,
reducing the need for both fertilizers and herbicides,
 •
 leaving chipped logging residue and bark in the field to reduce nutrient loss and act as a
mulch, which also decreases weed growth and the need for burning to prepare sites for
subsequent plantings,
 •
 using biological control against insect pests instead of using herbicides.
 Climate also has a significant impact on the growth and viability of forests. A steady
increase in average temperatures from global warming could dramatically alter today’s
pattern of tree distribution, thereby putting certain species under stress and encouraging
the spread of other species. In order to understand the adaptability of indigenous tree
species to changes in climate, researchers in Finland are measuring the success of various
tree species. They have established an arboretum and a gene pool forest with various
species of conifers and hardwoods to maintain genetic diversity. The aim is to determine
the factors that regulate tree characteristics, and to produce different varieties of seeds
suitable for forest regeneration.
Agricultural intensification and
forest protection
 One commonly cited option to reconcile agricultural development and forest
protection, which has garnered much support, is through agricultural
intensification; the basic idea is that if we can increase agricultural yields per
area in order to meet growing global food demand this will reduce the need for
more land and hence avoid further encroachment into social forested areas.
Agricultural intensification provides huge benefits and can help increase the
income of many poor farmers, but it also poses serious risks to social forests,
primarily by increasing the returns from agriculture and thus increasing
incentives for expansion. While this hypothesis likely holds at the global level,
at the local level a number of factors will condition what impact agricultural
intensification will have on social forested areas. What is clear is that this
relationship can only be properly understood on a case by case basis. In most
cases, agricultural intensification strategies need to be combined with stronger
regulation and enforcement mechanisms and/or efforts to increase forest rents
in order to effectively reduce deforestation. Addressing this challenge will also
require innovative, integrated solutions, while optimizing the land allocation
for conservation and agriculture. This highlights the critical need for a
landscape approach.

A landscape approach

 In order to balance the competing land use goals of

agriculture and social forestry, it is important to
understand the dynamics which drive land-use change
across the landscape. A landscape approach also permits
alignment with local or district planning processes, enables
cross-departmental or ministerial dialogue and facilitates
the negotiation of priorities and trade-offs. The case of
Brazil clearly shows how the landscape approach in
combination with strong regulation and enforcement
mechanisms can successfully be applied to increase
agricultural production and reduce social forest
conversion.
Conclusion

 Agricultural and social forest landscapes have long

provided humans with food, fiber and energy as well as a
range of other ecosystem services. In developing regions,
about one third of traditional biomass energy is supplied
from forests, with two thirds from other sources including
crop residues. Integration of agriculture and forestry can
increase production, enhance ecosystem services, and
reduce development pressure on unmanaged ecosystems.
Several systems have been developed that demonstrate
complementary plantings of woody species, perennial and
annual grasses and food crops can intensify production for
greater yields, while more efficiently utilizing water and
nutrients.