INVESTING IN TREES AND LANDSCAPE ... - PROFOR

3. Some tree-based investments, such as the parkland systems, provide win-win outcomes in terms of
profits and ecological services.
Parkland systems predominate in the savanna and Sahel biomes for good reason: They provide
nutritional and economic benefits as well as ecological benefits, which in turn benefit farming system
components (cultivated crops and livestock). Similarly, innovations such as nitrogen-fixing shrubs
boost yields as well as improving soil health and providing some additional fuelwood benefits.
Another tree system—fodder shrubs—boosts milk production and income; the shrubs can also serve
as good soil conservation barriers and fix nitrogen. Boundary plantings of timber trees are used
worldwide as sources of income and wood, and as windbreaks and boundary markers.
Not all tree species or systems qualify as win-wins, of course. In some cases, diversifying tree
crop systems with shade trees can reduce profits, especially if tree crop values are high. This is
not to suggest that such systems should be dismissed uniformly; rather, that their location and
scale need to be taken into consideration from both ecological and economic perspectives. In
addition, in terms of broader planning, they should be viewed as components of a broader system
of resource management and enterprise development that is designed to deliver long-term private
and social benefits.
4. Some other tree-based investments (e.g., integrating high-value trees into tree crop systems)could be
improved upon to deliver more profits and ecological benefits.
The term “green deserts” has been coined to denote monocropped systems such as oil palm and
eucalyptus; it implies that very few other plant or animal species are found in such systems. This
may be an exaggeration, but there is definitely scope for enhancing monocropped systems through
diversification to benefit biodiversity and increase profits. Multispecies agroforests are traditional
systems in many humid areas of the world. In Africa, the Chagga home-garden system of the Mt.
Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania and the “wild forest” coffee agroforestry systems in southwest Ethiopia
are the best known examples, but this chapter has described many more. Farmers appreciate the
diversity offered by these agroforests not only for the range of nutritional and economic resources,
which sustain the food security of their households, but also for the role of diversified production
as a buffer against the market shocks and price fluctuations common to almost all agricultural and
forestry products. The integration of trees and crops in agroforestry systems also mitigates the
effects of climate change, such as unpredictability of seasonal rainfall and increasing frequency of
extreme weather events (such as drought and flood), which affect annual crops much more than
they affect perennial tree crops.
The major impediment to greater expansion of integrated agroforestry systems is that research has
overwhelmingly bred “improved” crop varieties for high external inputs and management practices
under moncropped systems or full sun; this has changed the balance of economic and ecological
trade-offs.
5. Large-scale restoration almost always requires a combination of investments in tree and nontree
technologies; for example, vegetation regeneration, soil conservation, and planning for woodland/
riparian management.
Tree-based technologies are just one component that contributes to long-term economic and
ecological benefits in landscapes. Other technologies are as important or more so, depending on
the circumstances. There are many different land uses, and each requires its own kind of sustainable
Chapter 1. TREE-BASED AND OTHER LAND MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR LANDSCAPE RESTORATION AND LIVELIHOOD IN AFRICA
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