1 Multistrata agroforestry as an alternative to slash-and-burn farming in Peruvian Amazon Bohdan Lojka a , Ludvik Bortl a , Rita Riva Ruiz b , Jan Banout a , Jana Lojkova a , Zbynek Polesny a , Daniel Preininger a , Julio Ugarte Guerra c a Institute of Tropics and Subtropics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, Prague 6 – Suchdol, 165 21, Czech Republic b Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural Amazónico, Universidad Nacional de Ucayali, Carretera Federico Basadre km 6.500, Pucallpa, Peru c World Agroforestry Centre, Regional Centre for Latin América, Lima, Peru * Corresponding author: tel. +420 224 382 171, fax. +420 234 381 829; e-mail. lojka@its.czu.cz Abstract One of the causes of deforestation in Peruvian Amazon is slash-and-burn farming. As a viable alternative, we established and evaluated multistrata agroforestry systems around the town of Pucallpa (Ucayali region). Since 2007 till 2009, a total of 73 plots were established in nine villages, most of them on deforested and severely degraded soil. The system was based on cultivation of fast-growing indigenous fruit tree species Inga edulis as a key component, combined with other native fruit and timber trees. During early years of establishment, farmers intercrop trees with their own staple crops. In subsequent years, tree-growing prevents farmers from annual cropping, but there is room to grow shade-resistant crops such as pineapple. The preferred incentives were based on providing farmers with quality tree seedlings, organizing communal exchange work and continuous technical assistance. During evaluation in 2010, altogether 46