Agroforestry is an agricultural technique that combines trees with shrubs, crops and livestock in a system that produces food, supports biodiversity, builds soil horizons and water tables, and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere (45 gigatons of it, according to one estimate). Over the past year, Mongabay has focused a special series on the implementation and impact of agroforestry worldwide.

Now agroforestry is set to gain an even bigger global stage at the World Agroforestry Congress in Montpellier, France, from May 20-22, 2019. The thousands of scientists, practitioners and other experts gathering at the event aim to bridge the gap between agroforestry science and its practical implementation worldwide.

Two longtime agroforestry researchers are among the long list of keynote speakers: Emmanuel Torquebiau is a senior scientist with the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and has been involved in research and training in agroforestry, biodiversity and climate change since 1980. CIRAD’s climate change correspondent from 2012 to 2018, Torquebiau is the chair of the organizing committee for the upcoming World Agroforestry Congress and is the author and editor of papers and books on forest ecology, agroforestry, biodiversity, and the links between climate change and agriculture.

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