OSA representatives participated in the 7th European Agroforestry Conference in Brno (Czech Republic) at Mendel University from 27-31 May 2024. The conference was held under the patronage of Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný and Minister of Environment Petr Hladík. 396 delegates from 43 countries heard 137 presentations on research exploring the potential benefits of agroforestry.
The main organiser of the event, Jakub Houska (head of the Landscape Ecology Department of the Silva Tarouca Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture Research Institute and president of the Czech Agroforestry Association) proclaimed the success of the congress in the following words: “Brno was the international capital of agroforestry for a week – this motivates us to continue our work on bridging research and policy, while also working closer with farmers and foresters”.
The congress was officially opened by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, who in his speech stressed the importance of increasing the number of trees in our agricultural landscapes and pointed out that agroforestry would become one of the first, if not the first, practice covered by the soil carbon accumulation certification methodology.
During the conference, there was also a General Assembly of EURAF members, which elected the organisation’s Board for a new term.
During the closing ceremony of the congress, the participants approved the ‘ Brno Agroforestry Declaration’. The aim of the Declaration is to highlight the key actions needed to promote agroforestry systems across Europe.
Additionally, interesting visits to Czech agroforestry farms were also attended by the participants.
