Agroforestry

Interest in agroforestry has been increasing in recent years and may work for some Vashon landowners.  The practice blends forestry with producing food or animal fiber, more or less in the same space.

Generally speaking, agroforestry involves either using existing forestland for agriculture or creating forestland in areas currently used for farming.

As for the first of these two, agroforestry may not be ideal for many owners of forest.  If you own woods that are producing valuable ecosystem services for you and the Island community, then altering those woods isn’t very smart.  Ditto if your forest isn’t ecologically optimal but could get to that level if you worked to restore the forest to something more natural.

But if you own degraded forestland, an argument could be made for integrating crops or pasture into your forest, while also working on the forest’s health.  If, for example, landowners have patches of red alder dying of old age (now happening all over the Island) and invasive weeds are moving in because the forest floor is getting more light as a result, these owners could battle the invasives using food plants or pasture animals, while also planting conifers that will ultimately replace the alder.  In one go, they’d be producing food or fiber and improving forest health.

The second form of agroforestry—growing forests on ag lands—seems more straightforward.  Existing pasture or cropland can be planted strategically with native trees that, in addition to providing eco-benefits, offer needed shade for some kinds of crops or resting animals.  The shade also retains moisture in the ground near the trees, allowing grasses there to continue growing into the droughty late summer, when pasture grasses in the full sun have gone dormant.  This extends the foraging season for animals.  With the hotter, longer summers we’ve already begun experiencing due to climate change, this form of silvopasturing seems attractive.

More complex agroforestry practices include planting riparian areas alongside what would otherwise be a field’s wide-open stream, to cool the stream, improve habitat, and prevent bank erosion, which can harm water quality.  Windbreaks and hedgerows using native plants are yet other agroforestry practices; they prevent topsoil loss and soil evaporation caused by winds, while also providing habitat for plants and animals.

A common type of agroforestry is probably the easiest:  harvesting native forest products for food or use—no cultivation required.  Mushroom-gathering is an example of this type, as is berry-gathering. One Northwest group is encouraging tapping bigleaf maples for their sap, to turn into syrup.  (Islanders who’ve tried this practice say that, unfortunately,  our unique climate has too short a sap season to make sugaring workable at scale.)

In sum, agroforestry can contribute to the production of food—in greater demand as human populations increase—while protecting and even enhancing native ecosystems—also in greater demand as the world heats up and habitat diminishes.