Agroforestry in the European common agricultural policy

Agroforestryis a sustainable land managementsystem that should be more strongly promoted in Europe to ensure adequate ecosystem service provision in the old continent (Decision 529/2013) through the common agricultural policy(CAP). The promotion of the woody component in Europe can be appreciated in different sections of the CAP linked to PillarI ( direct paymentsand Greening) and PillarII (rural development programs). However, agroforestryis not recognised as such in the CAP, with the exception of the Measure 8.2 of PillarII. The lack of recognition of agroforestrypractices within the different sections of the CAP reduces the impact of CAP activities by overlooking the optimum combinations that would maximise the productivity of land where agroforestrycould be promoted, considering both the spatial and temporal scales.