Introduction

It was April 1985, under the leadership of Dr. Ir. Z. Goto, then Tropical Forest Biology Program Manager, that it was decided to launch in BIOTROP a multidisciplinary research on Shorea javanica. This followed the publication in 1984 by E.F. Torquebiau of a paper describing the traditional planting of this tree for resin production by farmers near the small town of Krui, in Lampung Province, Southern Sumatra (Man-made dipterocarp forest in Sumatra. Agroforestry Systems, 2: 103-127). A proposal was subsequently made to develop in BIOTROP different research topics around this species in order to promote it for plantation forestry. The choice of this species was justified by the important knowledge from its traditional uses and planting, while in the long term, it is hoped that the development of plantations of this species will promote the use of other dipterocarps and native trees for plantation forestry

Climate smart agriculture (CSA)

Climate change fundamentally shifts the agricultural development agenda. Changing temperature and precipitation, sea level rise, and the rising frequency of extreme climate events will significantly reduce global food production in this century unless action is taken. Major investments, private and public, will be needed.! Adapting agriculture to climate change is necessary to achieve food security, and agricultural mitigation can also reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and slow climate change itself. There are many drivers of change affecting agricultural sectors around the world, including population growth, changes in consumer demand and market integration. Climate Smart Agriculture is an integrated approach to achieve food security in the face of climate change, while also mitigating climate change and contribute to other development goals

Revisiting and modelling the woodland farming system of the early Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture (LBK), 5600–4900 B.C

International audienceThis article presents the conception and the conceptual results of a modelling representation of the farming systems of the Linearbandkeramik Culture (LBK). Assuming that there were permanent fields (PF) then, we suggest four ways that support the sustainability of such a farming system over time: a generalized pollarding and coppicing of trees to increase the productivity of woodland areas for foddering more livestock, which itself can then provide more manure for the fields, a generalized use of pulses grown together with cereals during the same cropping season, thereby reducing the needs for manure. Along with assumptions limiting bias on village and family organizations, the conceptual model which we propose for human environment in the LBK aims to be sustainable for long periods and can thereby overcome doubts about the PFs hypothesis for the LBK farming system. Thanks to a reconstruction of the climate of western Europe and the consequent vegetation pattern and productivity arising from it, we propose a protocol of experiments and validation procedures for both testing the PFs hypothesis and defining its eco-geographical area