Agroforestry in the Limburg province of the Netherlands

Benjamin Van Leeuwen, BSc

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Agroforestry as a sustainable farming system is increasingly receiving attention from farmers and institutions. This thesis reviews the current extend of agroforestry practices in the Limburg province of the Netherlands and the farmers‘ perspective on agroforestry. For the first research objective, the LUCAS database was used. Seven locations indicating agroforestry were found: three of these systems were found to be silvopastoral sytems and four sytems were found to be high value tree agroforestry. The total extend of agroforestry in Limburg was estimated to be 5,004 hectare. A concentration of agroforestry was found in the southern region of the province. For the second research objective, key informants and farmer survey was used. The current scale of agroforestry was described as experimental, but there are also examples of traditional agroforestry practices in the region. The main benefits of agroforestry systems mentioned were biodiversity improvement, landscape embellishment and business opportunities. Farmers were generally positive about implementing novel agroforestry systems, but have several concerns related to the a lack of agrotechnical research, competition for resources and the business model. The results from our study for the extend of agroforesty in Limburg were higher than was expected based on comparable research using LUCAS and a national inventory. However, Limburg is known to have more than average tree cover and traditional landscapes. It should also be noted that LUCAS is less reliable in smaller datasets and homogenous landscapes. However, this is the first study to approach the scale of agroforestry in the region using secondary data. It effectively shows the extend of agroforestry to be much higher would be expected based on primary data. We conclude that agroforestry shows potential for further implementation in Limburg. It positively relates to regional challenges, such as drought and loss of traditional landscapes. The region also attracts tourism, which can serve as a consumer base for added-value products. We recommend further research should focus on further defining agroforestry in the regional context of Limburg. Applied research on regional demonstration farms with region-specific crops will further help to spread the awareness of agroforestry.

Keywords

LUCAS, permanent crops, silvoarable, silvopastoral, silviculture, tree crops

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 24. 4. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 31. 5. 2023
• Supervisor: prof. Ing. Bohdan Lojka, Ph.D.
• Reader: Lukáš Kala, MBA, externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme:
Tropical Forestry and Agroforestry