In spring 2026, the first modern agroforestry system in the Saarland was established as part of the AFaktive project. On the 12.4-hectare pilot site of the Bioland farm Dörr near Eppelborn/Wiesbach, five strips of trees and shrubs were planted across an area of around 2 hectares. The agroforestry system combines the farm’s modern, environmentally friendly […]

The Geoecology Working Group at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the German Association for Landscape Management (DVL) and the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS) organised a workshop and field day on 18 March 2026 to explore the potential of agroforestry for the South Saxony-Anhalt region. With presentations from the DiP SMART Agroforestry, DiP FaiReSyst,

A unique practical research and demonstration site has been created The first significant watercourse restoration project on the Tauchnitzgraben in the municipality of Lossatal demonstrates how the European Water Framework Directive can be implemented collaboratively in agricultural regions. Here, local authorities, farmers, planners, water management bodies, the energy sector, landowners and nature conservation organisations are

On 7th and 8th March 2026, members of the German Professional Association for Agroforestry (DeFAF) gathered in Thallwitz, near Leipzig, to review the association’s past year, as well as the activities carried out, upcoming tasks and objectives. The AGROfloW and AFaktive projects were also represented, not only through the participation of the project teams, but

The project team is back on television. On Monday, the programme “Wetterreportage in der Landesschau Rheinland-Pfalz” (Weather Report on Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Television) featured the project location at the Hofgut Neumühle educational institution. Frank Wagener, head of the Biomass and Cultural Landscape Development Department at IfaS, explains how an agroforestry system can enhance a field. Poplars

While AFaktive began with six pilot farms that are now well advanced in planning and implementation, the project is already moving into its next phase: the expansion to twelve additional farms across Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Although this expansion phase has not yet officially started, the project approach remains flexible and opportunity-driven. Where there

As a multifunctional land use form, agroforestry offers a range of benefits, from yields stabilisation to climate adaptation and increased biodiversity. In an article for the professional journal WASSER UND ABFALL (Water and Waste) published by the Association of Engineers for Water Management, Waste Management and Land Improvement Engineering (Bund der Ingenieure für Wasserwirtschaft, Abfallwirtschaft

The results of the Wood-Pasture Project are now available in the final report. The German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) funded this first comprehensive biocultural assessment of wood-pastures in Europe (reference number 37480; project duration: 01 January 2022 – 30 June 2025). Two working groups from Babeș-Bolyai University and IfaS, involving up to

Last week, the AFaktive team installed monitoring sensors at the farms of Diessens Broek and Hofkamer in the Netherlands. The installation of soil moisture sensors and a weather station was based on the maps and transects planned by AFaktive partner FITT and was carried out with the devices and experience of partner Royal Eikelkamp. The

Given the practice-oriented and farmer-centred AFaktive approach, the collaboration with the project farms encompasses different steps to ensure a water efficient and farm-adapted agroforestry system. Typically, in a first “scoping meeting”, the AFaktive team discusses with the famers the characteristics of the farm and its water vulnerabilities (e.g. field prone to erosion, drought, flooding, etc.).