BIOSEFAIR

BIOSEFAIR

Biodiversity and ecosystem services

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système agroforestier étagé - ferme Bocaux d'amour - @F. Calvet
article

02 September 2026

By: Diana Ortiz

AGROFORDIV - Establishing the groundwork for an interdisciplinary exploration of diversified agroforestry systems

Highly diversified agroforestry systems—orchard-market gardens, forest gardens, or successional agroforestry systems (also known as syntropic agroforestry systems) are emerging in France and Europe due to their significant ecological, agronomic, and social potential. Although promising in addressing current challenges (biodiversity loss, climate change, agroecological transition, among others), their adoption is still hindered by various technical, economic, and institutional barriers. The consortium built around this project aims to better understand the functioning and impacts of highly diversified agroforestry systems, which are still poorly studied, while laying the foundations for participatory and transdisciplinary research capable of addressing the agronomic, ecological, and societal challenges of current agriculture.
marguerites@sylvie vanpeene

Through the six calls for proposals launched by Biosefair and the annual support provided for doctoral dissertations, a research community has taken shape and made progress on a variety of topics by bringing together numerous disciplines and research groups. This booklet presents the results of completed research tracks and dissertations, as well as overviews of ongoing research tracks and dissertations.

Insecte Rosalia alpina et syrphe @N. Gouix

Our regular newsletters bring you the latest on the Biosefair metaprogramme and its themes of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

paysage des Baux de Provence @michel_meuret_INRAE

Here you will find summaries of the initiatives supported by Biosefair from 2021 to 2023: 7 consortia, 17 exploratory projects, and 10 theses.

Biodiversity and ecosystem services

After a COP15 on biodiversity with mixed results - better than expected, not strong enough for what needs to be done - scientific research such as that conducted at INRAE is more necessary than ever. It feeds into the stream of scientific results from around the world, documenting the extent of biodiversity degradation that is jeopardising the provision of associated ecosystem services, and identifying appropriate ways of slowing it down. However, the COP also clearly shows that political interactions largely determine the scope for action. In this respect, research is also urgently needed to gain a better understanding of these negotiation processes in order to develop more effective global and local biodiversity governance arrangements that are tailored to the challenges of agriculture, food and social well-being.

The BIOSEFAIR metaprogramme aims to support the deployment of such research within INRAE so that the very substantial sum of results produced on biodiversity and ecosystem services leads to proposals for transforming the systems in place, going beyond a comprehensive analysis.
This is a difficult task and a high ambition, commensurate with the stakes involved, but also with the very rich capabilities that are present within INRAE.

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