Reduction of deforestation by agroforestry in high carbon stock forests of Southeast Asia

Abstract

Agroforestry is widely practised for local social-economic and ecological co-benefits, however whether it is beneficial at landscape scale in terms of decreasing deforestation rates remains unclear. Using causal inference, we found local variability but an overall net reduction in deforestation attributed to agroforestry of 250,319 ha yr−1 or 58.8 ± 15.5 Mt CO2 equivalent per year across 38 subnational regions in Southeast Asia (P < 0.05), including high carbon stock forests and deforestation hotspots. These findings provide support and nuance for agroforestry as a natural climate solution especially in biodiverse Southeast Asian forests, which harbour high levels of carbon stocks. Agroforestry is a natural climate solution providing ecological and socio-economic benefits at local scales, however whether it reduces deforestation at landscape scale is still unclear. Authors use causal inference to examine the effects of agroforestry on deforestation across Southeast Asia.