Sara del Fierro’s research while affiliated with United States Department of Agriculture and other places

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are an important strategy for conservation within human managed landscapes, given their ability to harmonize productivity with environmental functions. AFS are heterogeneous in their design, management, and species composition, and this heterogeneity has implications on their restoration, conservation, and productivity functions. AFS can function as biodiversity islands (protected and/or managed areas of high biological diversity within human-dominated landscapes) or can be incorporated into existing biodiversity islands as buffer zones. In this way, they can be integrated into already productive landscapes. This chapter provides an overview of the various ecological, social, and economic benefits of the main types of AFS and their applications as and within biodiversity islands, expanding on their role in providing critical ecosystem services. It discusses the use of incentives to support and promote AFS, safeguarding the contributions they provide to landscape biodiversity and rural communities. Payments for environmental services (PES) can be specifically designed bundling several services including biodiversity as part of programs to promote desired land use changes such as AFS. Biodiversity credit markets are becoming increasingly important as a potential mechanism that can drive financing toward the protection, regeneration, and stewardship of biodiversity, including favoring biodiversity-friendly land use options such as AFS. Finally, the role of government initiatives in supporting agroecological transitions away from conventional agriculture is described, with insight into recent advances in the US. These programs work to support AFS and climate-smart agroecology over conventional agriculture, reinforcing the contributions of AFS to biodiversity islands in the agricultural landscape.

This concluding chapter presents the lessons learned from the chapters in the four previous parts of this book: (I) Introduction; (II) Biodiversity Islands Establishment and Management: Challenges and Alternatives; (III) Biodiversity Islands Across the Globe: Case Studies; and (IV) Safeguarding the Environmental, Social, and Economic Benefits of Biodiversity Islands. Constraints limiting the adoption of Biodiversity Islands (BI), include conceptual, biophysical, economic, political, social, and cultural factors. Opportunities for increasing the implementation of BI are presented, particularly chances for working with groups from private conservation initiatives, such as those representing local communities, indigenous peoples, and conservation organizations. Examples of policies promoting agroecology are discussed, as well as current trends in conservation which support the BI concept. Despite the challenges posed to BI, local motivation, political will, and the right educational campaigns, can allow economically prosperous human communities and biodiversity to thrive harmoniously within shared landscapes. Many international efforts are currently underway, creating sustainable and dynamic BI within human-dominated environments. BI are a critical strategy for conservation in the twenty-first century while having the added benefit of contributing to climate adaptation and resiliency solutions. This book serves as a tool for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers interested in increasing the implementation of Biodiversity Islands.KeywordsAgroforestryBiodiversity conservationCommunity actionEcosystem servicesIndigenous communitiesPrivate reservesSocial-ecological systems

Given their ability to harmonize productivity with environmental functions, agroforestry systems (AFS) are an important strategy for conservation within human managed landscapes. AFS are heterogeneous in their design, management, and species composition, with consequences for their restoration, conservation, and productivity functions. AFS can function as biodiversity islands or can be incorporated into existing biodiversity islands as buffer zones because they can be integrated into already productive landscapes. This chapter provides an overview of the various ecological, social, and economic benefits of the main types of AFS systems and their applications as and within biodiversity islands. It also discusses the use of incentives to support and promote AFS in order to safeguard the contributions they provide to landscape biodiversity and rural communities.KeywordsBuffer zonesCertificationConnectivityMarketsOrganic farmingPayments for ecosystem services (PES)