In May 2019, Dr Ulrich Schmutz represented Organic-PLUS at the 4th World Agroforestry Congress in Montpellier, France – the first time this congress has been held in Europe. The congress has put Agroforestry firmly on the map, in Europe and the EU. New areas were explored such as the link between Agroforestry and Agroecology, and the idea of using only certified organic methods within Agroforestry. The contribution of Agroforestry to achieving ‘Drawdown’ (the capture of greenhouse gas pollutants from the atmosphere) was a major part of the keynote discussions.
Significantly at the congress, the Montpellier Declaration was passed stating: “we, the 1200 delegates from 100 countries, agree that the massive degradation of our world’s biodiversity documented in the recent IPBES report is principally due to poor agricultural practices. Agroforestry offers a key solution to remedy the situation…” Read the full document here.
organic-plus.net 