Vincent de Leijster

153 Synthesis and conclusion 7 management approach that optimizes ecosystem service synergies and minimizes trade- offs. Until these ecosystem services interactions are understood more fully, research will remain important. The first of the ten elements of agroecology defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization is therefore very important: ‘Co-creation and sharing of knowledge’ (FAO, 2018). We need to experiment with various combinations of agroecological practices, monitor the outcomes using ecosystem service assessments, and adapt them based on the lessons learned. From promised land to ripening business In Chapter 1, I suggested that agroecology is ‘the promised land’ in terms of ecological benefits, and in this thesis, I have found more evidence that this is the case in terms of ecological benefits. In addition, I have explored the road towards agroecology becoming a viable business. The results of this thesis show that this road may be bumpy, since gross revenues may be reduced by its implementation; nevertheless, it also shows that, despite lower net revenues in some cases, agroecological systems always remained profitable. Furthermore, I have shown that currently existing incentives can be used to provide more economic benefits to agroecological systems and to value the provisioning of ecosystem services. To conclude, agroecology is a ripe business and large-scale implementation is possible; still, we need to learn and further innovate its application so that we can optimize synergies and minimize trade-offs between ecological and economic outcomes. 7.3 Recommendations for practitioners and policy makers If we are to restore ecosystem services and biodiversity and make livelihoods more resilient, land should be managed differently than it has been in the past few decades. In this thesis I have presented more evidence that agroecological management may contribute to rehabilitating ecosystem services and biodiversity. Agricultural production can be transformed from being a degrading land management practice to be a rehabilitating land management practice. Therefore, I recommend the implementation of practices based on agroecological principles to improve accumulated ecosystem service supply in woody agricultural systems. Nevertheless, the economic outcome of agroecological interventions may vary, depending on specific agroecological practices, farming options and incentives, and therefore context-specific adjustments are required.