Western European silvopastoral systems

This book is the state-of-the-art in applied research on silvopastoralism in Western Europe. By gathering updated information and real examples from different parts of Europe, it gives an overview on silvopastoral system management and functioning. It is the first document in Europe which compares how the same agroforestry technique has been adapted to contrasted situations (temperate lowlands, temperate mountains, Mediterranean forests and rangelands), according to contrasted objectives (environment, food production, economics,...). It shows that several approaches can provide ideas for developing new policy decisions either in the European or in the Mediterranean contexts, for supporting production systems which guarantee environmental, agricultural and economic sustainability. Viewpoints from different types of environments and from different types of scientific branches are compared. Interactions between components are described and modeled in order to build, through a system approach, a multistoreyed system for multiple production and use. This review provides some keys for the development of sustainable silvopastoral systems and stresses the importance of focusing research on multidisciplinary approaches and is consequently a very useful tool for researchers, forest managers and livestock farmers in Europe and the Mediterranean countries.