Towards BIOSmart livestock farming in Colombia: cultural landscapes, silvo-pastoral systems and biodiversity

Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world with a large rural population of small-holder, low income farmers. As the demand for meat and dairy increases, livestock farming continues to expand onto land that is not appropriate for farming, causing environmental damage through forest clearance, loss of biodiversity and land degradation. Different national initiatives aim to encourage more intensive and sustainable farming that support farmers' livelihoods and protect the environment and its rich biodiversity. Silvo-pastoral farming is one of those initiatives as it combines forestry and grazing. However due to cultural and social factors, in combination with possible economic and agronomic influences, uptake remains low and deforestation continues.

This interdisciplinary project brings together cultural geography, behavioural economics and ecological expertise from both the UK and Colombia to investigate the cultural and socio-economic reasons for low adoption of silvo-pastoral livestock farming practices that can support livelihood and protect biodiversity. Through farmer interviews and focus groups and existing socio-economic data sets we will develop and test effective mechanisms through dissemination, farmer to farmer engagement and government policy that promote effective uptake and implementation of best practice. Furthermore we will undertake a large scale field trial and quantify the scale dependent benefits of silvo-pastoral practices and forest protection on biodiversity and ecosystem services to provide landscape scale policy relevant guidance on the optimal approaches to promote forest protection and silvo-pastoral implementation at the landscape scale, beyond just the individual farm.

These approaches will help sustainably intensify livestock production whilst protecting forests and other natural areas in order to support economic development, biodiversity protection and social wellbeing in Colombia.

The BIO-smart project builds on an ongoing project funded under the same RCUK-CIAT Newton Fund initiative on Forages in Tropical Agriculture. Preliminary discussions with potential partners, fieldwork and instruments for data collection are evolving under this programme. More specifically, we have strong levels of engagement with CIAT scientists and the "Livestock Plus", "Sustainable Amazon Landscapes" and "Implementing sustainable agricultural and livestock systems for simultaneous targeting of forest conservation for climate change mitigation (REDD+) and peace-building in Colombia" projects.

As a result of this ongoing work we identify the following communities who will be affected by this project, namely i) smallholder farmers currently adopting and wishing to adopt SPS, ii) policy stakeholders interested in seeking ways to promote SPS for increasing resilience and enhance ecosystems services within Colombian agricultural systems, iii) consumers of milk and meat produce within Colombia.

Smallholder farmers in Colombia are the most important beneficiaries. By developing silvo-pastoral practices that sustainably intensify production and improved quality and yield, smallholders will benefit economically in the long term. And through a greater understanding and assumed responsibility for the protection of forests and natural areas, farmers and their communities will benefit socially and culturally. Individual farmers involved in the focus groups and surveys will also be able to shape how they engage with policy makers and extension workers in the future and how the findings of the research are made available to them and their communities.

Colombian Policymakers. This project will identify specific policy actions that can be implemented at local and landscape scales to effectively protect forest and associated biodiversity. It will also identify optimal management of silvo-pastoral systems and their associated benefits for farmers socially and economically as well as potential impacts on the wider landscape. This will address specific policy priorities in Colombia, aimed at sustainably intensify pastures and protecting the Amazonian forests and its biodiversity.

Members of the public including consumers purchasing produce locally such as milk and meat, will benefit from higher yields, improved quality and a more resilient supply chain. Users of natural areas and wildlife enthusiasts will ultimately benefit from enhanced protection of forests and natural areas which have a cultural and social value to many of the communities in the region. Through protection of rare, endemic and iconic species, Colombia will also remain a globally prominent region for biodiversity.

Agricultural extension organisations will benefit from academic evidence that will enable them to target and develop projects that seek to educate and benefit farmers, improve their income and protect their livelihoods whilst addressing Colombia's and the wider Amazonian region's environmental challenges.