Agroforestry used to be a relatively common historical land-use system in Czechia, but it has nearly disappeared with the intensification of agriculture in the 20^th century. The first direct evidence of agroforestry in the Czech Lands can be found in written and pictorial sources dated back to the 12^th century. Historically, the common practices were forest pastures, intercropping of forest trees (Tanguya systems), hay cutting in forests, arable land with fruit trees, meadows or pastures with fruit trees or trees for wood use.

Agricultural areas in Czechia used to be formed by a mosaic of small, diversified fields with a high number of woody perennials along or within the field blocks. However, the landscape changed considerably with the beginning of the communist regime in 1948 and the collectivization of agricultural areas. The majority of farms were incorporated into large cooperatives or state farms that led to the unification of the field blocks and removal of woody vegetation to facilitate the use of heavy machinery. Nowadays, 70% of agricultural land is managed by large-scale agricultural enterprises with a high farm average area (130 ha), with minimum woody components within the fields. There is an urgent need to change the agricultural practices in the Czech Republic, as such homogeneous agricultural landscapes progressively reduce biodiversity and increasing soil degradation.