Inclusive Outscaling of the Agricultural Land Afforestation Agro-ecosystem REstoration ACTions in Heraklion, Greece

Land degradation and desertification are considered major threats for the present and future of Mediterranean arid and semiarid agro-ecosystems (Daliakopoulos et al., 2017). Long-term anthropogenic pressure on forest and agricultural lands, combined with abiotic factors and the global trend of accelerated dryer climate and dryland expansion, create an uncertain and unstable living environment which has been demonstrated to increase poverty and force domestic and even cross-border migration. While our understanding and the flow of information about these threats is unprecedented, challenges persist and uptake of good practices by stakeholders is hindered by constraints and barriers both biophysical and socioeconomic (Daliakopoulos, 2022). For example, in one of the pioneer institutional initiatives aiming to enhance long-term forest resources and combat soil erosion and desertification by promoting forestry as an alternative form of land use, the Agricultural Land Afforestation (ALA) Program (Regulation 2080/92) introduced compensations for the income loss incurred during the non-productive period of afforested agricultural land. However, awareness about the Program by landowners, and the overall effectiveness of afforestation both in forestation success and in reducing soil erosion remains uncertain (Arabatzis et al., 2006; Nunes et al., 2011). In this context, the premise of the REACT4MED Project is that massive and effective land restoration actions need not only to make sense from an environmental point of view, but to also be socially acceptable, economically viable (Daliakopoulos & Keesstra, 2020), and have measurable impact, thus combining good practices with organic and inclusive transformation of all social actors. Here we present an overview of the effectiveness of the former ALA in the REACT4MED Pilot Area of Heraklion and outlines the supporting actions, both top down and bottom up, planned during the REACT4MED Project to increase the effectiveness of the forthcoming ALA Program by combining good practices with organic and inclusive transformation of all social actors.

References

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Acknowledgements

This work has received funding from REACT4MED: Inclusive Outscaling of Agro-Ecosystem Restoration Actions for the Mediterranean. The REACT4MED Project (grant agreement 2122) is funded by PRIMA, a program supported by Horizon 2020.