Other definitions of farm forestry and agroforestry



Definitions of farm forestry and agroforestry vary both in Australia and overseas. The choice of definition can influence the allocation of funding, the identification of research priorities, and the development of policies and programmes. Below are just some of the definitions adopted by Australian government and industry groups.

Australian Forestry Council (1980)—Federal Government Advisory Group
Agroforestry: " … the deliberate management of forests for simultaneous production of wood and agricultural products."

Victorian Joint Agroforestry Management Committee (1991)—Victorian Government Advisory Group
Agroforestry: " … a system of sustainable land management that involves the integration of forestry and agriculture on the same land unit."

Australian Forest Growers, Greening Australia, National Farmers Federation and National Association of Forest Industries Joint Statement (1997)—industry groups
Farm Forestry: " … the growth and management of trees on farms, as part of the farm enterprise, for the purpose of producing wood and/or non-wood products."

National Farm Forestry Program—Australian Government funding program, 1995–2000
Farm Forestry: " … the incorporation of productive tree growing into farming systems. It improves agricultural production by providing shelter for stock and crops. It also provides substantial environmental benefits such as water table and salinity reduction."

National Farm Forestry Roundtable (1999)—Federal Government Advisory Group
Farm Forestry: " … incorporation of commercial tree crops into farming systems to complement conventional agriculture with new products, as well as provide a capacity to enhance agricultural productivity and achieve better resource management."

NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation (1999) Cole-Clarke
"Agroforestry, is strictly speaking, the production of a timber product and an agricultural product from the same parcel of land."

Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Australia (AFFA)
"Farm forestry is the incorporation of commercial tree growing into farming systems and includes plantations on farms. It takes many forms, including timber belts, alleys and widespread tree plantings. Farm forestry can provide farmers with an alternative source of income. It can also provide substantial environmental benefits such as salinity control.
AFFA use the following diagram developed by Miles Prossor (1995), who at the time worked for he National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI), to illustrate its definition of farm forestry.



Federal Research and Development Corporation’s (RDC’s) Joint Venture Agroforestry Program
Agroforestry: " … the productive use of trees on farms. Agroforestry has the potential to improve agricultural productivity, diversify and increase farm income, conserve land, maintain biodiversity and contribute to the national timber supply."

Western Australia CALM and AgWA
Agroforestry: "The integration of trees with other agricultural enterprises on a farm. The combined profit from forest and agricultural produce can exceed the profit from either alone. Trees are typically planted as timberbelts, shelterbelts, alleys or woodlots."
Farm Forestry: "Commercial tree production on farmland."

NRE: Farm forestry/agroforestry—What is it? Charles Hajek
Farm Forestry: "This is the management of trees for a commercial purpose. Typically this is timber plantations on private land. However it can be applied to a whole range of enterprises utilising different parts of the tree and managed in a variety of ways."
Agroforestry: "This is the combining of agriculture and tree growing so as to produce both agricultural products and tree products on a commercial basis. The purpose of this is to gain positive interactions between the two systems at both the paddock level and the enterprise level. "

Greening Australia
Farm Forestry: "Farm Forestry is the management and use of trees on farms for commercial purposes."



INTERNATIONAL DEFINITIONS

USDA National Agroforestry Centre
Agroforestry: " … intentional combinations of trees with crops and/or livestock."
The USDA defintion suggests that there are five basic types of agroforestry practices: " … alley cropping, windbreaks, riparian buffer strips, silvopastoral and forest farming." Agroforestry systems are more " … integrated, diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems."
The following site provides excellent examples including photographs of each of the agroforestry types identified by the American researchers: http://agebb.missouri.edu/umca/

International Council for Research into Agroforestry (ICRAF 1982)
References: Lundgren, B.O. (1982) ‘What is Agroforestry?’, Agroforestry Systems, 1(1), pp. 7–12
Agroforestry: " … a collective name for land use systems and technologies where woody perennials are deliberately used on the same land unit as agricultural crops and/or animals, either in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry systems there are both economical and ecological interactions between the different components."

International Council for Research into Agroforestry (ICRAF 2001)
References: ICRAF www site: http://www.ciesin.org/IC/icraf/ICRAF.html
Agroforestry: "Put simply, agroforestry is using trees on farms."
ICRAF now defines agroforestry as:
" … a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels."

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