cultivar_22_Final_EN

68 ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDIES CULTIVAR Issue 22 APRIL 2021 Today, the consensus is that agroforestry systems, if man- aged sustainably, can provide society with valuable ecosys- tem services as they help to solve the environmental problems mentioned. • Climate regulation services that may result both in increased soil organic matter content and, consequently, improved carbon sequestration capacity and in lower fire risk with its contribu- tion to resolving CO 2 emissions. • Soil protection services that are essential for erosion control. • Services to regulate water balance and the retention of nutrients with positive effects therefrom for both the availability and quality of water. • Both functional and emblematic biodiversity services able to perform key ecological func- tions of high cultural value. • Services associated with the promotion of agri- cultural and forestry landscapes to ensure both their ecological continuity and the maintenance of their scenic and cultural value. So that these different types of ecosystem services can be provided by agroforestry services, it will be essential not only for the respective economic agents to adopt the sustainable management of their differ- ent plant, animal and forestry components but also a set of policy measures that can incentivise their general adoption. The management of cork and holm oak forest (montado) areas faces two main prob- lems that can be summed up as soil degradation and the loss of vitality of the tree cover. In response to these two problems, measures have emerged that may be more efficient than classical cork oak forest management: • Installation of improved pastures – able to substan- tially raise soil organic mat- ter, benefitting pastures and trees with clear economic and environmental benefits. • Use of dolomitic limestone and phosphorus – a solution that improves the nutritional capac- ity of soils as a means of development and increased organic matter content. • Regenerative or holistic grazing techniques – the management options here imply the use of animals in specific management strategies to add organic matter to the soil. These strategies very effectively improve the qual- ity of soils, namely through the incorporation of organic matter and protection against erosion, protecting tree cover through the best known strat- egy – improvement of its phytosanitary condition. However, cork and holm oaks, but chiefly the for- mer, have been battered in recent years by climate change and sudden death phenomena. With regard to this, there are biotic factors (such as phytophtera cinnamoni and platypus cylindrus ) with important negative impacts, but technical solutions are still necessary. 5. Agroforestry systems in the context of the post-2020 CAP The ongoing CAP reform points, in our opinion, to the three following main strategic guidelines with implications for the future of Portuguese agrofor- estry systems. First, greater equity in the dis- tribution of income support by adopting a process of total internal convergence (flat rate) by 2026, the end of the historical model of assigning BPS rights and application of redistributive and MZD payments exclusively or pre- … agroforestry systems, if managed sustainably, can provide society with valuable ecosystem services … The ongoing CAP reform points to greater equity in the distribution of income support … an increase in the future resilience of agrifood chains … the adoption of a consistent and effective set of eco-scheme payments and MAAs …