Environmental and socioeconomic assessment of agroforestry implementation in Iran

Agroforestry has been recognized as a sustainable strategy over conventional agriculture that can mitigate environmental impacts, enhance ecosystem services, maintain natural resources, and simultaneously improve smallholders’ livelihoods in rural areas. Agroforestry will be most effective in agricultural lands that are more vulnerable in terms of environmental and socioeconomic aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the priority areas that are more susceptible to agroforestry. The objective of this study was to evaluate where and to what extent Iran's farmlands were subjected to increased environmental and socioeconomic pressures that can be alleviated through the implementation of agroforestry practices. To do so, two climatic, four soil, and four socioeconomic indicators were selected, and their maps were generated as well. Then, pressure maps of these indicators were created by applying the critical threshold of each indicator to the corresponding map. Finally, all the pressure maps were accumulated on a map called the Agroforestry Suitability Map (ASM). The locations that have more than five pressures on the current map were designated as priority areas for the development of agroforestry. The main findings showed that rise in temperature and soil organic carbon (SOC) deficit were the dominant pressures that affected the study area. Furthermore, about 17% of the total farmlands were recognized as the priority areas. The priority areas were mostly located in arid and semi-arid regions, which indicates the greater vulnerability of these regions to climatic and socioeconomic conditions. Our results highlighted that the farmlands of Kermanshah, Khuzestan, and Lorestan provinces, located adjacent to the Zagros Mountains, are the most suited areas for agroforestry implementation, respectively. The study findings could assist decision makers in mitigating the negative effects of environmental pressures and in providing a wide range of other beneficial services through the establishment of agroforestry systems in the recognized priority areas.