Silvopastoral systems as a strategy to reduce GHG emissions and restore natural areas in livestock systems in the Amazonian foothills of Caquetá, Colombia

Abstract

Abstract Cattle ranching is an important socioeconomic activity for the department of Caquetá in the Colombian Amazon. However, this activity is linked to a large part of the deforestation in the region with the consequent loss of biodiversity and the generation of large quantities of greenhouse gases (GHG). The objective of this work was to estimate the effect of establishing a silvopastoral system (SPS) on productivity, GHG emissions and natural habitat conservation on a typical farm in the region with conventional pastures. The emissions of a conventional 80 hectares farm based on pastures such as Ischaemum indicum and Brachiaria/Uroochloa species with a forest remnant of 1 ha were compared with those of a farm in which the establishment of a SPS was modeled in 51% of the area and 15 ha were released for forest restoration. GHG emissions were estimated using IPCC Tier 2, considering changes in production and emissions due to the implementation of the SPS using production parameters and carbon sequestration coefficients generated in previous research in the area. It was found that the SPS increases the carrying capacity by 18.5% and beef and milk production by 28% in relation to the conventional system and reduces gross emissions by 4.9%. In addition, with the SPS, net emissions went from 40,148 tons of CO2 eq/year to a net capture of -302,188 tons of CO2 eq/year within the farm, thanks to the carbon capture capacity of the SPS and the restored area. It is concluded that the implementation of SPSs is a strategy that allows increasing production, restoring forest and wetland areas and generating carbon sinks in the productive activity.