Diversity for Restoration (D4R) tool

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About Diversity for Restoration (D4R) tool:

It is developed with information on 237 socio-economically important native trees from the Western Ghats.
It is devised by Bioversity International.
The team from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), with the help of Bioversity International, modified it to promote restoration programmes in India.

Features

The researchers have claimed the tool will help improve the effectiveness of restoration programmes by providing manifold benefits to interested stakeholders while promoting sustainable development.
The online tool precisely aims to help better decision-making and bring the best outcome for those plantation programmes.
It could improve socio-ecological perspectives and help stakeholders in decision-making.
The tool helps the user in identifying species that match their restoration objectives.
It further helps identify species that can resist local stresses and adapt to evolving environmental conditions.
It also helps pinpoint areas and regions to procure the seeds for the required species.
The tool has information about 100 plant functional traits that have been considered to offer the best possible solution.
Functional traits include information on economic and ecological uses from the tree species chosen for plantation.
The tool informs the user whether the tree species offers timber, fruit, manure or other commercial benefits.
It also informs if the tree is resilient to physiological stresses such as extreme high or low temperatures, salinity or acidity tolerance in the soil among others.
The tool could also identify windbreakers – the trees can act as a barrier against high winds.
The user can also know if the species offers better nitrogen fixing and whether it serves as a good pollinator for birds and bees.
This tool is already being used in countries such as Malaysia, Ethiopia, Columbia, Peru, Burkina Faso, Cameroon etc.

Q1) What is Agroforestry?

Agroforestry is a land management system that integrates trees or woody perennials with agricultural crops or livestock in the same area. It is a sustainable and multifunctional approach that combines the benefits of agriculture, forestry, and sometimes livestock production.

Source: This new tool can drive India’s eco-restoration initiatives; here’s how