Policy Briefing 64-v1 explores the interaction between agroforestry and the EU´s sustainability and  water policy resilience goals. It emphasizes the role of a mosaic tree-cover in sustainable water management, and the importance  of agricultural trees in enhancing soil water infiltration, reducing runoff on slopes, and increasing water quantity in streams....

Policy Briefing #20 (v4) is much shortened from version 3 (17.9.24) and responds to the draft carbon farming MRV methodologies made available in April/May 2025 to members of the Carbon Removals Expert Group.  These outline proposed methodologies to monitor practices involving: a) agriculture and agroforestry on mineral soils, b) tree...

Policy Briefing #68 (v1) gives approaches to the quantification of agroforestry and woody landscape features in the EU, based upon open access to Member States' Geospatial Aid Application (GSAA) and Land Parcel Information System (LPIS) data - with harmonised coding (Lawson, Muraru & Kay 2024) of crops, land uses and...

Briefing #18 (v5) adds (p6 onwards) information on the Commission Notice providing “Guidance on a framework for developing methodologies to monitor high-diversity landscape features pursuant to Article 14(7) of the Nature Restoration Regulation”. We conclude that this 20-page note could have been avoided if EURAF´s advice had been followed and...

Forestry and agroforestry have received very little support historically from the CAP, and in the new MFF the silos of funding and thinking between forestry and agriculture should be addressed.  Below are ten of the reasons for much gerater integration of agriculture, forestry, environment, carbon and climate funding at regional...

Policy Briefing #70 v2 considers the impact of the removal of the GAEC8 landscape feature area targets by the 14/5/24 CAP Simplification Regulation (2024/1468).  In principle, the replacement of the “stick” approach in the original GAEC8, with the “carrot” of additional eco-scheme funding was commendable.  However, broad-brush country-level statistics (R.34,...

Recommendations are given to support the role of agroforestry in EU voluntary carbon-farming schemes. Use of CAP eco-schemes, investment measures and agri-environment-climate measures during the first 5 years of agroforestry plantations can kick-start the adoption of agroforestry areas into carbon farming certification, and help close the growing gap between GHG...

Policy Briefing 66 (v1) describes the clear benefits which agroforestry systems have for biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems. But how can these be demonstrated in carbon farming projects, without a monitoring complexity and timescale which makes the projects uneconomic? Biodiversity was the only one of the six “sustainability” areas...

Policy Briefing #62 (v2) points out the significant simplification introduced by the Commission on 26.2.25.  This simplification should be read in conjunction with the (v1) summary below of corporate sustainability reporting requirements introduced or proposed by the EU Commission, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due...

Policy Briefing 63 (v2) adds a final section to version 1 responding to the Commission´s "Vision Agriculture and Food" (19.2.2025 COM(2025) 75 final).  EURAF is very disappointed that this vision did not not mention agricultural trees or agroforestry. There remains a tendency for some policymakers to view agriculture and forestry in...

EURAF Policy Briefing #28 v3 responds to the Commission's latest report on the Sustainable Finance Initiative (aka the Taxonomy Regulation) and forms EURAF´s submission to a consultation which closes on 5th February 2025.  Agriculture was included in the original recommendations (2022) of the "Platform for Sustainable Finance", but was not...

EURAF Policy Briefing 34 (v1) is part of a series summarising policy incentives and disincentives for agroforestry in EU Member States.  It gives the definition of agroforestry in Finland and the possible role of ecoschemes, investment measures and agri-environment climate measures in its support. It considers whether agroforestry data is...

Policy Briefing #1 (v4) slightly updates the EURAF Agroforestry Typology.  EURAF recommends that the eight agroforestry practices used on agricultural land should be identified as land uses in the Land Parcel Identification Systems (LPIS) systems of Member States: 1) wood-pasture, 2) alley-cropping, 3) alley-coppice, 4) food-forests, 5) orchard-cropping, 6) orchard-grazing,...

Policy Briefing #15 (v5) welcomes the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), noting that it excludes current areas of agriculture and agroforestry. However the EUDR Guidelines place too much faith in the ability of satellite data to distinguish forests from agriculture.  We therefore stress the importance of land-use and cadastral registers, and...

Policy Briefing #69 (v1) was produced as an input to a discussion paper from DGAGRI on “Governance and Performance of the CAP”, circulated to the CAP Civil Dialogue Group technical meeting on 12.4.24. Version 2 updates most sections. Discussion on the Forest Monitoring Regulation stresses the need to use national...

Policy Briefing #17 (v4) considers the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and coherence of the 2023 LULUCF Regulation and concludes: a) that emissions reporting and targets should be integrated across the land sector in an "Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use" metric - as has been recommended by IPCC since 2006, and...

Informe político #44 presenta un análisis de la formulación de los sistemas agroforestales (SAF) en el Plan Estratégico de la PAC español 2023-27 (PEPAC), y su consideración en otros planes y normas nacionales y autonómicas relacionadas. El PEPAC establece un máximo de 100 árboles/ha para que los terrenos agrícolas mantengan...

Policy Briefing #44 (v1) summarises the inclusion of agroforestry in the Spanish CAP Strategic Plan 2023-27 (CSP), and other related national and regional plans and regulations. A maximum of 100 trees/ha is allowed for agroforestry to remain classified as “arable land” or “permanent crops”, although autonomous regions have the option...

Policy Briefing #8 (v4) reflects the revised text of the EU Regulation for a Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF). It a) summarises current estimates of the carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry in Europe, b) provides a timeline and references for studies of carbon farming in the EU; c) considers how...

Policy Briefing #29 (v1) focuses on the flexibility allowed to Member States to define permanent grassland to “include other species such as trees and/or shrubs which produce animal feed”.  This option has not been selected by 15 administrations (AT, BE-F, CZ, DK, EE, HU, HR, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL,...

Policy Briefing #30 (v1) suggests that the  Forest Reproductive Material Regulation should mention agroforestry, and the particular need for high-quality planting stock when trees are planted at wide-spacings, with less opportunity for self-thinning and improvement-thinning. We suggest that: a) every mention of "afforestation/reforestation" in the draft Regulation (pages 2, 7,...

Policy Briefing #27 (v2) notes Agroforestry is mentioned in the Adaptation Strategy or Adaptation Plan of ONLY 11 Member States.  This is despite extensive scientific literature on using agroforestry systems to help adapt agriculture and forestry to climate change. There is also a FAO guide on how to include both...

Policy Briefing #26 is a contribution to the DG CLIMA consultation on 2040 climate targets. It suggests that, if the EU's target of 3 billion additional trees  by 2030 were planted in agroforestry systems at the density of 150 (50-400) trees/ha, with 1 million ha planted each year to 2050,...

The Sixth European Agroforestry Conference took place in Nuoro Sardinia from 16-20th May 2022.  This briefing offers easy access to the conference abstracts. These have been collated into 4 TOPICS and 13 SUBTOPICS.  Many of the abstracts are relevant to the European Green Deal, and to a range of agricultural,...

Policy Briefing #25 (v1) is provided as an input to the FAO review of monitoring and reporting methods for Trees Outside Forests to be used in 2030 Forest Resource Assessment (with the review scheduled for completion in 2025).  EURAF recommends greater coordination with the UNFCCC forest definitions and the move...