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Back to Project Summary Page


Colombia Silvopastoral Rehabilitation

Biodiversity
The establishment of the silvopastoral system and the reforestation will substitute monospecies land cover by more diverse systems that favor higher faunal and microbial populations. The region is still hosting a rich diversity of species that have suffered important declines in population due to habitat loss. The restoration, especially in areas near wetlands, will increase habitats for endemic and migratory birds (such as Aix sponsa and Anas discorus) and other fauna (butterflies).

Trans-boundary migratory species will benefit from green patches where to stop in their migratory paths to and from the tropics that are currently non-existent in the savannas during the dry season. Though not quantitatively documented, increased presence of birds and insects (butterflies, earthworms (macroauna)) has been observed in the pilot silvopastoral systems established. A similar effect is expected for the project.

The reforestation component will re-establish soil fauna that has under current degradation decreased to very low levels. However, the conversion of the land in silvopastoral systems or forest plantations might reduce certain specific niches and potentially impact some species. No specific information on this effect is available but it is expected to be negligible since the area of the project is very small compared to the current area of degraded land.

An effort will be made to assess the impacts of the systems on biodiversity through thesis to be conducted by students from local universities as part of the training component of the project. All the shrubs and tree species to be planted in the silvopastoral systems and for reforestation are indigenous from Colombia and/or other tropical regions of Central and Latin America. Non Colombian native species have also been introduced in the region over a hundred years ago and have not proved invasive. Their inclusion in the present project will therefore not pose any threat to existing biodiversity. The seeds for species to be used will come from a plot planted in 1998, which has 625 shrubs per hectare and enough genetic variability, and will ensure that the seed collection does not harm the existing forests. Farmers planting silvopastoral systems may propose to sow grasses of higher productivity, greater shade tolerance and/or better nutritional quality. In such case they would be selected amongst grass species that have already been introduced in the region (i.e. Brachiaria, Panicum, or Cydonon genera grasses).

Other Environmental Benefits and Risks
The reestablishment of a tree and grass cover through the silvopastoral systems and reforestation process will strongly reduce soil erosion, and significantly increase moisture retention in soils and regulate moisture availability in the pastureland. It will consequently reduce sedimentation in dams and estuaries and have beneficial effects on water quantity, quality, and water flow during the rainy season.

The production of timber species will also help reduce global deforestation by reducing pressure on remaining native forest.

Several local and regional field days will also be conducted to show farmers from neighboring communities the potential benefits of the systems, and accessible information products (brochures, handouts, videos) will be prepared for local authorities and policy makers and increase outreach of the potential project benefits. These actions will help environmental awareness of populations and foster the extension of the project and associated environmental benefits.

Local communities will be directly involved in the monitoring of the project activities. They will receive specific capacity building for that task. Students from local universities will also participate to this process through more in depth studies, as part of their research MSc and BSc. thesis. CIAT and Corpoica have strong experience in environmental monitoring and will design and supervise these activities.

Socio-economic benefits and risks
Project activities will generate at least 270 full time jobs the first year and 140 full jobs in subsequent years for activities including establishing tree nurseries, planting, maintaining trees, and managing improved pastures. These jobs will help reduce the high regional unemployment rates. The main benefits from the silvopastoral activities will accrue to rural communities of small scale livestock production that will diversify their production systems, increase their income through increased productivity, and warrant the sustainability of their livelihood currently at risk from land degradation. This will in turn reduce migration of landholders to urban settlements and stabilize populations.

Additional resources brought by the project and especially by the higher incomes from farmers will likely have a multiplier effect on the local economy. Local energy and water suppliers will enjoy lower operational cost with the reduced sedimentation in water streams and dams. The added aesthetic value brought by regeneration may also increase tourism in the savannas during the dry season. Farmers in the project will benefit from trainings on the establishment and management of silvopastoral systems and forestry plantations. Special field days will be organized to show involved farmers a few prototype farms where demonstrations on different aspect of management will be conducted. The project will work with groups of farmers and communities and provide opportunities to share experiences and build social capital. The project and especially monitoring and evaluation activities will enhance the awareness and capacities of local community organizations. Local and regional institutions, including academic bodies, will also benefit from capacity building in topics related to CDM projects and silvopastoral systems.

Community organizations from local indigenous ethnic groups (Zenue tribes) located within the project area will participate in the implementation of the project and be included in the capacity building process, at the advantage of their community.

Farmer communities have been involved during the preparation of the project in the definition of the activities. Immediately after project approval a rural workshop will be conducted to select the farms to be included in the project. Prospective candidates have already been approached and most of them are motivated to be involved. Informed consent will be achieved via workshops with proposed participants and more detailed explanation of benefits and responsibilities. Regular meetings with farmers will be hold during project implementation to maintain the whole group informed of the progress and identify problems in the management of the activities.

Local communities will be directly involved in the monitoring of the project activities. They will receive specific capacity building for that task. Students from local universities will also participate to this process through more in depth studies, as part of their research MSc and BSc. thesis. CIAT and Corpoica have strong experience in project monitoring and will design and supervise these activities.

Leakage
In the areas dedicated to silvopastoral systems, the land use system will not be changed but the productivity of the land will be restored. In the areas dedicated to reforestation, current animal load is extremely low due to the low productivity of these degraded lands. The same productivity could be obtained with less land and consequently released degraded land could be redirected to forest plantations. On the other hand, potential risk of farmers taking advantage of the more productive silvopastoral system to increase the animal load beyond its carrying capacity will be internally controlled. Each plot in the silvopastoral system has a fixed period for grazing and shall enter into a resting period before being grazed again. In case of overgrazing of a plot, the time for grazing is reduced and creates periods where no plots are available for grazing. Any such default to the grazing scheme will be evidenced by a rapid decrease in productivity, and will provide the required feedback to correct the grazing management schedule. The maintenance of the productivity of the systems represents a clear economic incentive for farmers to not increase excessively the animal load. Farmers will be properly trained on the timing and grazing periods that the system can sustain.

Risk of Non Permanence
Farmers will likely manage properly the silvopastoral systems as livestock production is their main activity. Planted forage shrubs will be kept permanently as they are a key part of the diet of the cattle. The supplemental income provided by the harvest of timber species will also likely make the option of replanting attractive. The communities will own both the land and the CERs, and are organized in strong social groups with formalized legal representation. Furthermore, a contract will be signed with every farmer involved, formalizing his commitment to manage properly the plantations during the project life. Law enforcement could eventually be used to warrant land use continuity. Areas where the project will be implemented are located nearby the houses of the farmers and any emerging fire could be perceived rapidly. CVS has already tested procedures to manage fires in the region and will provide manuals with procedures to minimize chances of fires to expand. In case local farmers can not control a fire, the help of the firefighters present in each municipality would be required. Fires from neighboring lands, however, will still represent a risk. Mitigation measures here include the large distribution of the selected farms, the presence of water streams or wetlands bordering several farms that provide natural barriers against fire and the creation of prevention corridors around the exposed farms.

The risk of conversion of reforested land to intensive agriculture seems low due to the high cost of upfront investments in high intensive agriculture, inaccessible to small scale farmers. Such conversion would also be attractive only once the land productivity has been restored, a stage at which timber trees will have a high potential value compared to any agricultural activity. Potential pest outbreaks should be controlled properly thanks to the large distribution of farms and the existence of an integrated pest management of forest plantations developed by Corporación del Valle del Sinu and the assistance of CIAT .

Additionality
There are no economically feasible activities identified that can compete with livestock production in the region. In particular, the initial investments to move into high intensive no-tillage agriculture or rehabilitating degraded pastures are high and refrain small-scale farmers in the region from being involved in a change of land management practice. In addition, access to markets is often limited, so products receive low prices.

The only silvopastoral systems established on producer's farms in the last years covered 20 hectares and were only realized thanks to high subsidies from Corpoica as a mechanism to promote the silvopastoral technology. This support is not replicable and therefore a different mechanism needs to be found. The silvopastoral system becomes an attractive investment under the threshold interest rate of 10%. However agricultural loans are charged 20% rate, which renders investments to change land management practice infeasible for farmers under current conditions. The project therefore complies with the additionality criteria.

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