Woodlands on the farm: A critical review of information sources

Abstract

When some commune agricultural policy measures aim at encouraging agricultural land afforestation, it becomes useful to understand how farmers manage their forest and afforested land and what is the benefit these lands may procure to the farm system and more generally to the farm household. In front of the situations' diversity and the scope of the issue, a preliminary task is to identify the existing data concerning more particularly the French case. This article presents all the information sources available and gives details on the data they gather. This work points out the complementary analyses which could be carried on and the complementary knowledge which is necessary for a better understanding of the relation between the farmer and its forest.