#MoveTheDate
4
Days
Based on scenarios calculated by Project Drawdown, a 40% increase in silvopasture would move Earth Overshoot Day 4 days by 2050.
What is the solution?
Silvopasture is a form of agroforestry, used since ancient times, that brings trees, livestock, and foraging into a single system. Integrating trees and pasture for livestock supports improved health and productivity for both livestock and land.
This solution improves our resource security in the food category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Pasture land strewn or crisscrossed with trees sequesters 5-10 times as much carbon as treeless pastures. Silvopasture systems reduce risk by helping farmers and ranchers diversify income and become more resilient to erratic weather and increased drought.
How is it scalable?
Researchers estimate that silvopasture is currently practiced on 550 million hectares globally, out of an estimated 820 million hectares theoretically suitable for silvopasture.
What is the solution?
Silvopasture is a form of agroforestry, used since ancient times, that brings trees, livestock, and foraging into a single system. Integrating trees and pasture for livestock supports improved health and productivity for both livestock and land.
This solution improves our resource security in the food category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Pasture land strewn or crisscrossed with trees sequesters 5-10 times as much carbon as treeless pastures. Silvopasture systems reduce risk by helping farmers and ranchers diversify income and become more resilient to erratic weather and increased drought.
How is it scalable?
Researchers estimate that silvopasture is currently practiced on 550 million hectares globally, out of an estimated 820 million hectares theoretically suitable for silvopasture.
Though silvopasture systems can take several years to establish, the benefits to farmers, livestock, and ecosystems are wide ranging. Trees benefit from fertilizer and pruning and animals enjoy a greater diversity in their diet and benefit from temperature regulation. Shade lowers the animals’ heat stress so they produce less methane, while the diversified vegetation improves their diet and productivity1.
Silvopasture possibilities are highly dependent on local ecosystems, but in nearly every case provide additional income sources to help farmers become more resilient to the inevitable challenges that climate change will impose. From artisan goat cheese in Sardinia to “shade-grown” cows in Colombia1 and poultry in Iowa, farmers are finding opportunities to increase their income while improving the land.
Beyond the direct financial benefits, silvopasture can also increase wildlife diversity, improve water quality, protect against erosion, improve soil health, prevent forest fires, and even create more aesthetically pleasing landscapes.
Calculations for this solution are based on work done by our friends at Project Drawdown. You can get more information about this solution and their calculation methodology here.
Global Footprint Network gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Avina Stiftung for Earth Overshoot Day in general and the food dimension in particular.
References
There’s no benefit in waiting!
Acting now puts you at a strategic advantage in a world increasingly defined by ecological overshoot. Countless solutions exist that #MoveTheDate. They’re creative, economically viable, and ready to deploy at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day. If we move the date 6 days each year, humanity can be out of overshoot before 2050.