In Paraguay, increasing competition over land due to the expansion of agriculture under monoculture conditions and large cattle farms calls for more integrated and sustainable land use options. Silvopastoral systems represent a promising approach to produce both timber and beef while providing diversified and long-term income, enhancing soil fertility and carbon stocks. The Paraguay Agricultural Corporation (PAYCO) is successfully implementing forest plantations most of them under silvopastoral production regimes on an area of about 9,000 hectare and is currently seeking to expand its operations toward 30,000 hectares. The Inter-American Development Bank contracted UNIQUE to assist PAYCO with the design and implementation of optimized silvopastoral systems.

• Research on silvopastoral systems and trade-offs with pure forestry or livestock production systems.
• Modeling of economic, environmental and social benefits under different scenarios.
• Research design and implementation of permanent demonstration plots on PAYCO’s land.
• Publication and dissemination of the main results.