Abstract
Despite its low emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), Sri Lanka is considered as a vulnerable small island nation under climate change. Agroforestry, which uniquely integrates trees into land use systems, has historically contributed to climate change adaptation in Sri Lanka. Hence, the promotion of agroforestry practices is vitally important to enhance the resiliency of the country to future climate change. This paper reviews the literature and discusses the adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry, the effects of adapting agroforestry on climate changes, and important policies for promoting agroforestry adaptation in Sri Lanka. The adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry are identified as follows: endangerment of natural assets; prevalence of pests, diseases and invasive species; agriculture and forest damage; and high levels of food insecurity. The adaptation of agroforestry impacts climate change by increasing the tree cover outside forests, enhancing forest carbon stocks, conserving biodiversity, reducing risks and damage intensity, maintaining health and vitality, and scaling up multiple benefits. Changing regulations and legislation, developing awareness and capacity, planning for climate-smart agroforest landscapes, offering no-regret options and implementing climate change adjustment programs are discussed as important policy measures. It is concluded that agroforestry, along with favourable policy, has an important role in climate change adaptation by enhancing resilience to climate impacts on farming systems.
Highlights
The quantity of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emitted in Sri Lanka does not contribute to global warming (Yamane, 2009)
Sri Lanka has no strong obligations to the international climate change policy arena because the country neither emits a large quantity of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that contribute to global warming nor is regarded as vulnerable to climate change (Yamane, 2009)
Agroforestry in Sri Lanka has an important role in climate change adaptation through diversified land-use practices, sustainable livelihoods, sources of income, enhanced forest and agricultural productivity, and reduced weather-related production losses, which enhance resilience against climate impacts
Summary
The quantity of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emitted in Sri Lanka does not contribute to global warming (Yamane, 2009). The World Bank Group (2011) predicts further increases of climate variability and extreme events across Sri Lanka in the future. The UNFCCC and the IPCC have considered the vulnerability and adaptation to climate change as integral components (Yamane, 2009). Strengthening adaptation mechanisms by combining agriculture and forestry through sustainable agroforestry management reduces the impacts of climate change. Agroforestry has an important role in climate change adaptation through diversified land-use practices, protected livelihoods and sources of income, enhanced agricultural productivity, and mitigated weather-related production losses, which enhance a region’s resilience to climate impacts on farming systems (www.fao.org/forestry2010). The authors intend to determine the use of agroforestry in Sri Lanka as a promising land use option for adapting to climate change. This paper reviews the literature and discusses the impacts of climate change on forest and agriculture, the agroforestry adaptation for climate changes and policy environment required to promote agroforestry for climate change adaptation in Sri Lanka
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