Farmers or foresters: the use of tree in the sylvopastoral systems of the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica

Abstract

In the Atlantic zone of Costa Rica, farmers are mostly involved in animal husbandry practices. As their farm systems often contain a lot of woody perennials, either as dispersed trees in the pastures or as trees in living fences, it could be said that large parts of the farming systems occurring in the Zone apply to the definition of silvopastoral systems. The methodology used in this research to arrive at a description of the silvopastoral system, the LUTs and the silvopastoral practices that are important in the research areas Río Jiménez, Neguev and Cocorí, encompases a combination of the diagnostic phases of Land Evaluation and Agroforestry Diagnosis & Design. From these tools for land use planning, a checklist was derived that included inputs, outputs, components and activities. This checklist was the basis for a structured interview with farmers in the research areas (9 in each area) about the importance of trees in their farming systems. A further insight in the farming systems that occur in the research areas and use of trees within them was gained in three case studies on farms with different Land use Types. In this research it has been shown, that farmers like to have trees in their farming systems, as long as these trees do not hinder animal production. So their priorities rest on animal husbandry.