Title:
Study Finds More Trees on Farms Than Was Thought
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
Farmers, especially in developing countries, are
often criticized for cutting down forests. But a new
study suggests that many farmers recognize the value
in keeping trees.
Researchers using satellite images found at least
ten percent tree cover on more than one billion
hectares of farmland. That is almost half the
farmland in the world.
The World Agroforestry Center in Kenya led the
study.
The findings were reported in August in Nairobi at
the second World Congress of Agroforestry.
Earlier estimates were much lower but incomplete.
The authors of the new study say it may still
underestimate the true extent worldwide.
The study found the most tree cover in South
America. Next comes Africa south of the Sahara,
followed by Southeast Asia. North Africa and West
Asia have the least.
The study found that climate conditions alone could
not explain the amount of tree cover in different
areas. Nor could the size of nearby populations,
meaning people and trees can live together.
There are areas with few trees but also few people,
and areas with many trees and many people. The
findings suggest that things like land rights,
markets or government policies can influence tree
planting and protection.
Dennis Garrity heads the World Agroforestry Center.
He says farmers are acting on their own to protect
and plant trees. The problem, he says, is that
policy makers and planners have been slow to
recognize this and to support such efforts.
The satellite images may not show what the farmers
are using the trees for, but trees provide nuts,
fruit, wood and other products. They provide
windbreaks and shade from the sun. They also help
prevent soil loss and protect water supplies. Even
under drought conditions, trees can often provide
food and a way to earn money until the next growing
season.
The important thing, says one expert, is to find the
right
tree for the right place for the right use. Some
trees act as natural fertilizers. They take nitrogen
out of the air and put it in the soil. Scientists at
the agroforestry center say the use of fertilizer
trees can reduce the need for chemical nitrogen by
up to three-fourths. And they say it can double or
triple crop production. Trees also capture carbon
dioxide, a gas linked to climate change.
Wangari Maathai is a Kenyan environmentalist and
Nobel Peace Prize winner. She says the study shows
that trees are critical to agricultural production
everywhere.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture
Report.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
