Role of Agroforestry in Biodiversity Conservation and Response to Climate Change
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Abstract
Agriculture is the primary driving force leading to biodiversity loss and environmental change. However, Agroforestry combines land use practices and is one of the proposed systems to merge biodiversity conservation, food production, and the delivery of ecosystem services. Therefore, agroforestry practices have received huge attention globally by delivering ecosystem services like biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. Understanding the role of agroforestry in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation is crucial for achieving an optimum balance and identifying existing gaps, such as which system performs better in different situations. The objective of this review is to synthesise various articles on the role of agroforestry in biodiversity conservation and climate response. To achieve this, multiple articles related to biodiversity conservation and climate response in agroforestry practices in Ethiopia were systematically searched in Google Scholar and synthesised. Consequently, based on this review, maintaining agroforestry is also vital for conserving faunal diversity in addition to flora. This area serves as a refuge for threatened, endemic, and native plant species retained from deforestation. Again, agroforestry is noted as having full potential in adapting to and mitigating the adverse effects of climate change. Therefore, further research should consider the sustainability of biodiversity conservation in agroforestry by facilitating agroforestry-based carbon payments, maximising the diversification of various agroforestry components, and developing a management strategy.
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