Agroforestry as integrated natural resource management

Abstract

The challenge of the early 20th century was to remove the forests and woodlands to make room for agriculture; the challenge for the future is understanding the interactions between forests and farming and designing new agricultural landscapes that integrate them for conservation and profit. Agroforestry, a marriage of forest and agricultural science, is a pivotal discipline in the practical implementation of this change. This chapter lays the foundation for appreciating the urgency and nature of this change. We begin with a robust and pragmatic definition of agroforestry. Then follows an explanation of how agroforestry emerged in the efforts to secure sustainable agriculture and forestry in Australia. We mount our argument for agroforestry as a key strategy for on-ground action that integrates many natural resource management issues. Moving from theory to practice, we describe the design and planning processes by which farmers integrate their individual vision and resources with real and meaningful changes on the ground. We then introduce the rest of this book by summarising and linking each of its chapters.