Agroforestry-Driven Sustainability Transitions in the Indian Himalayan Region: Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) is enriched with natural resources and different agroclimatic zones sustaining a large population. IHR is ecologically fragile, and increasingly under threat by overexploitations, and climate change that decreases the sustainable productivity affecting the mountain livelihoods. In the study, Agroforestry (AF) is presented as a nature-based solution (NbS) that is efficiently capable of management of mountain landscapes (soil productivity, C-storage, nutrient/water regulation, biodiversity conservation) by simultaneous sustainable production of crops/trees/livestock integrated with traditional knowledge. The study addresses pathways of AF-based ecosystem services (ESS), diversified livelihoods, and adaptability to climatic impacts in socio-ecological/economic context aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study followed guideline tool Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and a total 138 articles/reports were finally screened from three databases viz. Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus. Formulation of policies for scalable AF-models was emphasized to address environmental impacts and livelihoods. Traditional-AF was compared with modern AF for ESS with functional roles, benefits, drivers and barriers in IHR. In addition, policy and governance gaps were identified with recommendation in perspective of farmers’ participation, socio-economic and ecological attributes for adopting AF in IHR.