Ecological goods and services and agroforestry : the benefits for farmers and the interests for society

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to estimate the social value of environmental goods and services (EG&S) generated by agroforestry practices and to evaluate the profitability of these practices for agricultural producers and for society. Two agroforestry practices are considered: riparian buffer zones and windbreaks. Moreover, the situations in two representative agricultural watersheds serve our analysis (Chateauguay and Fouquette watersheds). Among the numerous EG&S that are provided through agroforestry practices, nine have been chosen for this study: agriculture-related odors, aestheticism of the landscape, terrestrial biodiversity, surface water quality, carbon sequestration, road accidents, clearing snow from roads, treatment of drinking water and wild pollinating insects. Several economic valuation methods have been used, such as hedonic pricing value, benefit transfer, productivity method or experimental economics.