Agroforestry in Spanish Climate and Agriculture Plans

Agroforestry is defined nationally in Spain's Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan, with regional monitoring and support mechanisms. Systems in arid lands require fewer than 100 trees per hectare, while permanent pastures allow more flexible definitions with at least 5 trees per hectare. Monitoring relies on three remote sensing data sources and an eligibility coefficient for grazing, determining the share of basic payment per plot. Farmers and foresters can access multiple additional payments for agroforestry, though complexity varies by autonomous community. Nine conditionality requirements (BCAE) apply, three relevant to agroforestry: BCAA-8 (landscape feature maintenance), BCAA-1 (permanent pasture conservation), and BCAA-9 (prohibition of converting permanent pasture to Natura 2000 areas). A new ecological scheme includes nine measures, six potentially relevant to agroforestry, especially extensive grazing and vegetation cover maintenance in permanent crops. At least 13 of 28 climate-agri-environmental investments may apply to agroforestry, though only two explicitly mention the term. Agroforestry measures are active in 10–11 autonomous regions, with all regions implementing at least four of the 13 measures. Spain’s parcel-level information system (SIGPAC) is one of Europe’s most advanced and transparent, covering both agricultural and forest areas, distinguishing two grazing land categories: with trees and with shrubs. This comprehensive coverage enables tracking of tree presence in existing and future plots. SIGPAC is a member-state-supported PAC monitoring tool, including data such as R.17 (conventional agroforestry planting area: 0.16; maintenance and agroforestry area receiving maintenance payments: 1.21; member state-registered landscape features: 1.21). Spain’s high-resolution data offer a model for other PAC monitoring systems and enable integration of PAC monitoring with greenhouse gas emission reporting and corporate carbon certification.