Agroforestry as a beneficial multifunctional element of green infrastructure in the Czech landscape and requirements for legislative improvements

Abstract The cultural landscape in Central Europe has been greatly influenced by long-term human activity. Expansive, intensively farmed agricultural areas generate numerous adverse environmental impacts and do not adequately reflect the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Agroforestry represents a renewed, or perhaps more accurately, a rediscovered approach to help mitigate negative anthropogenic pressure and impact on the environment and landscape. Historically a common feature, its tradition was eroded during the twentieth century, necessitating policy-driven efforts for its revival. The establishment of agroforestry systems (AFS) in the landscape of the Czech Republic was made possible relatively recently with the support of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). New legislation and government regulations have been adopted for implementation, which are being changed and amended over time. This article examines the evolution and current state of the legal and regulatory framework governing agroforestry in the Czech Republic. It investigates the principal legislative acts, the influence of the CAP, requirements for establishing and maintaining AFS, and their interplay with nature protection laws. The article describes the potential benefits of agroforestry systems in the landscape in the context of establishing green infrastructure and also describes the shortcomings and requirements (establishment and maintenance AFS) of the current legislative framework in the Czech Republic. This insight can be also useful for lawmakers and experts when introducing new legislation in individual EU Member States or in countries outside Europe. Agroforestry, as part of the green infrastructure in the landscape, has a significant opportunity to restore natural functions and stability in human-fragmented and modified landscapes. Each tree planted contributes a host of positive ecological, economic, and social benefits, the effects of which extend far beyond immediate human timescales.