TOOLS

The ReForest Knowledge Hub is part of a virtual ‘toolbox’ to help farmers design agroforestry (AF) systems and make well-informed management decisions suitable to local contexts. It is mainly aimed at farmers who have not yet converted to AF. Its primary purpose is to bring together past and current research and help address gaps in knowledge surrounding AF design and performance, the capacity of AF to deliver ecosystem services, and the potential impacts of AF on biodiversity and soil carbon.

The Hub consists of a database of resources (i.e. datasets, decision support tools, reports, videos, podcasts and websites) which have been collated drawing on knowledge and experience within the ReForest project consortium and wider national and international contacts. As of May 2024, it represents a broad baseline of information available, with 80 diverse resources originating in 15 different countries widely applicable to Europe included. The intention is for this to be expanded on throughout the duration of the project, responding to the needs of AF farmers and researchers. It was decided to limit the resources to those broadly originating within Europe.

It is currently possible to browse the resources which are listed alphabetically (see Figure 1), or to carry out a search filtering by AF type, AF focus, relevant farming system, geographical relevance and content type (see Figure 2). This capacity to apply filters that can help users narrow down searches sets it apart from other similar knowledge hubs.

Each resource has an associated page which gives a brief description of what it is along with some technical information / acknowledgements (see Figure 3).