Agroforestry shelter belts & plantations on agricultural peatland

Challenges: Sustainable agroforestry requires markets for logs produced in shelter belts or plantations of fast-growing trees, products with a long service period, and management to ensure climate change mitigation.

Solutions: In riparian shelter belts on cropland and grassland, fast-growing trees such as hybrid poplars, aspens and alders efficiently utilise nutrients from runoff and quickly compensate soil carbon losses, ensuring a long-term accumulation of carbon in harvested wood products and the substitution effect of biofuel. Soil methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions are reduced due to natural adjustment of ground water level by woody vegetation. Tree species and plantation design will be evaluated for their soil greenhouse gas emissions, climate change mitigation and socioeconomic effects. Potential shelter belts will be mapped.

Outcomes: Agroforestry measures applied to cropland and grassland on organic soils are expected to reduce GHGE by ≥1,400 t CO2eq./ha during a 40-50 year period and contribute to restoring close-to-nature ecosystems which can later be transformed into forests, contributing to increased biodiversity value. Production of harvested wood products will increase mitigation effects.