Ancient and unique agroforestry landscapes can be found in several Mediterranean countries, and are known as arks of bio-cultural heritage rooted in the special identities of our homelands in Europe. These multi-functional and multi-purpose landscapes have supported local agricultural economies for centuries and are associated with a huge variety of local techniques and products. Moreover, they serve as a refuge for endangered biodiversity, are resilient to climate change and desertification and most importantly, can still generate income by supporting a collapsing rural society in economically marginal areas in EU, motivating young people to live in their ancestral land.
Τhe Green European Foundation, with the support of the scientific committee of the Green Institute of Greece, has just published a new book on “productive reforestation”, a new idea that could creatively and competently connect the European needs for extensive reforestation, afforestation and plantations especially in less favorable areas, where depopulation is leading to rapid landscape abandonment.
“Productive reforestation” could provide income and incentives to restart the agricultural economy by producing unique, high-quality local products, which has been a challenge in agricultural land especially after the recent economic crisis. In fact, these landscapes are proving to be the first priority embankment in order to prevent the effects of the two most serious crises that modern society is facing throughout the world: climate change and global biodiversity loss!
The book presents the views of reputable and internationally recognized Greek scientists from many distinct scientific fields (foresters, rangeland scientists, agronomists, geologists, etc.) by outlining a comprehensive picture of the topic especially by formulating realistic proposals that can be directly funded and implemented with the help of the Recovery and Resilience Fund.
Find out more in the new book entitled:
“PRODUCTIVE REFORESTATION FOR LIVING RURAL LANDSCAPES: Creating jobs and reviving Agroforestry systems for livestock farming, agriculture, beekeeping and biodiversity while tackling desertification, erosion and mitigating the effects of climate change”
You can order free copies of this publication by sending an email to info@gef.eu
