Agroforestry, reforestry, and the carbon problem

Large scale reforestation in the tropics has the potential to sequester large amounts of carbon and to help to mitigate the buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, unless the causes of deforestation are addressed, reforestation efforts will be in vain. The link between deforestation and reforestation operates within the domain of human intervention on the landscape, and includes the patterns of land resource use and access. This review considers the role that land and tree tenure (resource use and access) of agroforestry can have in reducing both the rate of conversion of forest to agriculture – the largest biotic emission of carbon – and forest degradation; thereby allowing both natural forests and reforestation to participate in carbon uptake. The operational land use and tenure aspects of agroforestry, and the impacts of these on deforestation, and in overcoming the obstacles to large scale reforestation, are presented. Utilisation of marginal lands, and the adoption, growth, and spread of agroforestry systems in the carbon context, are also discussed.