A new FAO report featuring the participation of Agrotecnio researcher Aida Bargués Tobella highlights the importance of synergies between forests, trees and agriculture in advancing towards more sustainable agrifood systems. Bargués Tobella, a specialist in soil and agroforestry sciences, co-led a chapter on the key role that trees and forests play in regulating the water cycle. The report, produced in collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, was presented at COP30 in Brazil.
Agriculture and forests are often considered competing land uses, especially in regions where land availability is limited. However, scientific evidence increasingly shows the many ways in which forests and trees can enhance agricultural productivity and resilience.
The FAO report, “Climate Benefits and Ecosystem Services of Forests and Trees for Agriculture”, synthesises the latest scientific evidence on how trees and forests regulate climate, rainfall and water availability—factors that directly affect agricultural productivity and the resilience of farming systems. It also emphasises their contribution to pollination, soil health and natural pest control. The document calls for stronger policies, investment and management actions to translate this evidence into concrete measures.
Trees and forests play a key role in regulating the water cycle
The chapter led by Aida Bargués Tobella (Agrotecnio) and Malin Lundberg Ingemarsson (Stockholm International Water Institute) focuses on interactions between trees, forests and water. In this chapter, which involved eight additional researchers, the authors detail how forests and trees—whether located within agricultural land or in surrounding areas—provide a wide range of water-related ecosystem services that are critical for agriculture. These include improving soil water recharge (green water), regulating water flows, mitigating water-related damage and purifying water.
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“Water-related ecosystem services provided by trees and forests to agriculture are not sufficiently monitored or valued,” explains Bargués Tobella, adding that “this means they are not properly recognised in the agricultural sector or in agricultural policies, which can lead to economic losses.”
The scientific team behind this chapter stresses the importance of adopting an integrated approach to landscape and natural resource management—covering forests and water—at different scales, in order to ensure that the benefits of trees and forests for agriculture are fully optimised.
