Carbon and financial performance and opportunities for silvopastoral systems

Mitigating climate risk requires substantial changes to socio-economic systems, including livestock production, which accounts for approximately 14% of global anthropogenic carbon emissions. Growing pasture, trees and livestock on the same land management unit in silvopastoral systems provides opportunities to increase farm financial performance while substantially reducing the carbon-intensity of livestock production. In timber-producing silvopastoral systems, a timber income stream can be generated after carbon credit payments diminish. Case studies are presented for Australia and Fiji. Increased adoption of silvopastoral systems by landholders requires long-term rights to benefit from sustainable vegetation management, as well as the development of carbon credit methods that permit natural vegetation management and account for international and domestic leakage.