UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 3
ather, the Linden
he Willow is my
m not alone”
folk song
Kling, in dialogue with Anders, to summarise
some of what we learned, what we reflected
upon, and some of what stayed with us.
1. INTRODUCTION
THE EFFICIENCY AND
SIMPLIFICATION HAS
COME AT THE COST OF
ROBUSTNESS
Uniform landscapes with vast monocultures,
fundamentally altering the intricate tapestry of
species interactions and energy flows that underpin ecosystems and biodiversity, have become a
recognized concern. Without a rich variety of life,
ecosystems become fragile and vulnerable, compromising their ability to provide essential services such as nutrient cycling, pollination, climate
regulation and extreme weather mitigation.
MIMICKING THE
EFFICIENCY OF NATURE
Agroforestry is a collective name for food production systems that have existed for millennia, characterised by a symbiosis of human activity and
nature management.
Today, an increasing number of agroforestry
practices, implemented on different scales around
Europe, show that merging nature restoration with
agriculture and forestry, in a landscape with more
blurred lines, contributes to long-term resilience,
biodiversity and productivity.
For example, hedgerows, small woodlands and
even individual (especially veteran) trees can
significantly increase the number of butterflies in
farmed landscapes, and with agroforestry systems
across Europe, insects attracting breeding birds a biological pest control - have proven to return.
In 2016 a comparison study was conducted be-
