The risk of unintended deforestation from scaling sustainable livestock production systems
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The risk of unintended deforestation from scaling sustainable livestock production systems. / Castro-Nunez, Augusto; Buritica, Alexander; González, Carolina; Villarino, Ma. Eliza Jucar; Holmann, Federico ; Pérez Marulanda, Lisset; Del Río, Martha; Sandoval, Danny ; Eufemia, Luca; Löhr, Katharina; Durango, Sandra ; Romero, Miguel; Lana, Marcos; Sotelo, Steven; Rivera, Ovidio; Loboguerrero, Ana Maria; Quintero, Marcela.
In: Conservation Science and Practice, Vol. 3, No. 9, e495, 14.07.2021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The risk of unintended deforestation from scaling sustainable livestock production systems
AU - Castro-Nunez, Augusto
AU - Buritica, Alexander
AU - González, Carolina
AU - Villarino, Ma. Eliza Jucar
AU - Holmann, Federico
AU - Pérez Marulanda, Lisset
AU - Del Río, Martha
AU - Sandoval, Danny
AU - Eufemia, Luca
AU - Löhr, Katharina
AU - Durango, Sandra
AU - Romero, Miguel
AU - Lana, Marcos
AU - Sotelo, Steven
AU - Rivera, Ovidio
AU - Loboguerrero, Ana Maria
AU - Quintero, Marcela
PY - 2021/7/14
Y1 - 2021/7/14
N2 - Silvopastoral systems (SPS)—production systems integrating trees, forages, and livestock within the same land area—are recognized as critical for reducing tropical deforestation and improving livelihoods, ecosystem services, and carbon sinks. Yet, research on how scaling SPS influences forest cover changes at large geographical scales is scant. Our study delves deeper into the interlinkages between scaling SPS and deforestation. In two surveys conducted among 144 Colombian Amazon livestock producers with traditional or SPS farms, we assessed changes in herd composition between 2016 and 2020. Results showed a change in herd composition, with fewer males and more cows/heifers, suggesting a shift toward specializing in milk production, which, with the appropriate environmental incentives and safeguards, would unlikely broaden deforestation. However, interlinkages between the dairy and beef value chains suggest that extra male cattle from SPS intensification would be moved for fattening as a source of beef to new pastures at the forest border. If SPS scaling interventions in the Colombian Amazon are to be truly deforestation‐free, they need to be designed based on a clear understanding of the interlinkages between food and land systems. Therefore, policies advancing the livestock and land‐use agenda must create mechanisms that support deforestation‐free livestock intensification, based on biophysical and socioeconomic evaluations. While our research results support previous findings, indicating that silvopastoral systems offer ecological and economic benefits at farm level, they also urge that environmental safeguards be put in place to prevent possible deforestation leakage due to the aggregated effects of farm‐level changes in herd composition from broader adoption of sustainable livestock production systems.
AB - Silvopastoral systems (SPS)—production systems integrating trees, forages, and livestock within the same land area—are recognized as critical for reducing tropical deforestation and improving livelihoods, ecosystem services, and carbon sinks. Yet, research on how scaling SPS influences forest cover changes at large geographical scales is scant. Our study delves deeper into the interlinkages between scaling SPS and deforestation. In two surveys conducted among 144 Colombian Amazon livestock producers with traditional or SPS farms, we assessed changes in herd composition between 2016 and 2020. Results showed a change in herd composition, with fewer males and more cows/heifers, suggesting a shift toward specializing in milk production, which, with the appropriate environmental incentives and safeguards, would unlikely broaden deforestation. However, interlinkages between the dairy and beef value chains suggest that extra male cattle from SPS intensification would be moved for fattening as a source of beef to new pastures at the forest border. If SPS scaling interventions in the Colombian Amazon are to be truly deforestation‐free, they need to be designed based on a clear understanding of the interlinkages between food and land systems. Therefore, policies advancing the livestock and land‐use agenda must create mechanisms that support deforestation‐free livestock intensification, based on biophysical and socioeconomic evaluations. While our research results support previous findings, indicating that silvopastoral systems offer ecological and economic benefits at farm level, they also urge that environmental safeguards be put in place to prevent possible deforestation leakage due to the aggregated effects of farm‐level changes in herd composition from broader adoption of sustainable livestock production systems.
KW - Faculty of Science
U2 - 10.1111/csp2.495
DO - 10.1111/csp2.495
M3 - Journal article
VL - 3
JO - Conservation Science and Practice
JF - Conservation Science and Practice
SN - 2578-4854
IS - 9
M1 - e495
ER -
ID: 285494869