C+ AgroForER (PR FESR 21-27)

C+ AgroForER - Not only carbon: a multifunctional approach for ecosystem services and quality food production in agroforestry systems of Emilia-Romagna is a PR-FESR 2021-2027 project coordinated by Centro Interdipartimentale sulla Sicurezza Tecnologie Innovazione Agroalimentare dell'Università degli Studi di Parma (SITEIA.PARMA) and implemented with the support of European funds from the Emilia-Romagna Region.

The C+ AgroForER project is presented by 4 accredited laboratories in the Emilia-Romagna Region in collaboration with 5 companies interested in assessing the effectiveness of the solutions implemented to mitigate the impacts of their production activities, forests, and agroecological cultivations. Improved approaches will be proposed to increase ecosystem services, and enabling technologies will be provided for their assessment. Companies will derive a decision support tool from these efforts. Current evaluation systems are limited in objectively and reproducibly considering the additional environmental benefits of various mitigation solutions. The proposed approach will leverage existing tools for calculating carbon and sustainability credits, enhancing the technical-scientific capacity to quantify aspects such as biodiversity benefits, absorption of atmospheric pollutants, soil health, water resource use, product quality, and the potential for carbon sequestration in the soil with amendments. The final result will be a panel of practical solutions, analytical techniques, calculation methodologies, and training opportunities to provide companies with an enabling tool for planning their agroforestry interventions.

PROAMBIENTE will follow the assessments of ecosystem services from experimental trials in collaboration with partners and companies. Additionally, it will provide air monitoring of the study areas and deliver GIS maps resulting from external consultancy. Our contribution to the project will involve analyzing the best strategies for environmental sustainability aimed at reducing anthropogenic impacts, strengthening resilience, and supporting mitigation, along with monitoring some anthropogenic gaseous pollutants present in the study areas.

Coordinator: SITEIA.PARMA

Partners: PROAMBIENTE, CRPA LAB, Terra&AcquaTech

Companies involved: Agugiaro & Figna, Reire, F.lli Ferrari, Comunalia di Boschetto, Davines

Duration: January 2024 - July 2026 (30 months)

Financing: total cost of €632,885.87 and financing of €468,962.12