Climate change activism has been gaining momentum for over a decade now. With more and more environmental awareness countries of the world have begun to take more conscious steps towards environmental conservation and climate change mitigation.
Agroforestry is the most ideal tool or a system installing global warming as in the simplest of terms agroforestry can take Carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere therefore aiding in reducing the carbon footprint. It is no novel information that trees have the necessary element of fixing and storing Carbon from the atmosphere. The multi-purpose benefits of Agroforestry also include the secondary environmental benefits such as food security and secured land tenure, increased income of farmers, restoring and maintaining above ground and below ground biodiversity, and soil conservation thus, making it the most popular course of action than other existing options. Agroforestry can sequester more carbon as compared to other systems and tools for climate change mitigation. Carbon sequestration can be defined as the uptake of C-containing substances and, in particular, CO2 into another reservoir with a longer residence time. Therefore carbon sequestration is an important technology for maintaining optimum CO2 levels in the atmosphere which in turn results in climate change mitigation.
The various studies and experiments have time and again proven that Agroforestry systems have, in particular, a higher potential to sequester atmospheric CO2 than the croplands, pastures, or natural grasslands.
The statistics suggest that there’s going to be a stark rise in the growth of the furniture industry from about 10% to 12% in the near future. And with that, will come a surge in the demand for wood. In such times agro-grown wood comes to us as a saving grace. Agroforestry plays a key role in not just climate change mitigation but also climate adaptation. Agroforestry essentially can mitigate climate change and possesses the potential to reduce global warming by absorbing greenhouse gases (CO2) through the process of carbon sequestration. There are several studies that suggest that Agro-forestry plantations sequester more carbon per unit area and time (more than 2 -3 times).
Agro-forestry or the Agro-grown trees further significantly add to the process of biomass. The wood processing industries like Panel Board, Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, MDF flooring, etc. promote, encourage and depend upon Agroforestry. These industries Convert a marginally high amount of wood waste into energy generation-Wood which in turn due to its natural components can be optimally utilized as renewable resources and that’s the beauty of wood; a gift to us mankind from our very own Mother Nature.