Forest Landscape Restoration: increasing the positive impacts of forest restoration or simply the area under tree cover?

Abstract

Restoring forest landscapes is critical in the face of continued global forest loss and degradation. In this article, we explore some challenges underlying the delivery of global commitments to restore forest landscapes. We propose that three fundamental questions need to be resolved upfront for the effective implementation of Forest Landscape Restoration and related commitments: (1) What social and ecological landscape objectives are being sought through Forest Landscape Restoration? (2) How are specific areas being selected for restoration? (3) How is success measured when restoring forest landscapes? We believe that there is an urgent need to adequately answer these questions to successfully implement political commitments for large‐scale forest restoration.

Decision support tools for forest landscape restoration: Current status and future outlook

“…Although these commitments signal the first steps of a complex and long-term restoration trajectory, the next steps of planning, prioritizing and implementing restoration interventions require overcoming many obstacles and knowledge gaps Mansourian et al 2017). These steps involve a series of planning, capacity building and stakeholder engagement activities that culminate in a restoration and monitoring plan at the national or sub-national scale.…”

Participatory monitoring to connect local and global priorities for forest restoration

“…; Mansourian et al. ). As FLR grows in international importance, participatory monitoring (Laake et al.…”

“…Yet such connections are often overlooked (Mansourian et al. ). Flexible approaches and governance mechanisms built on social learning are crucial (van Oosten et al.…”

“…Local and national objectives also need to be connected to the goals of international stakeholders such as the Global Partnership for Forest Landscape Restoration, the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Yet such connections are often overlooked (Mansourian et al 2017). Flexible approaches and governance mechanisms built on social learning are crucial (van Oosten et al 2014) as is actively linking restoration science with local aspirations and practices so that national targets and plans and relevant legal mandates achieve their social and environmental goals (Viani et al 2017).…”

“…Monitoring is also crucial for determining whether desired endpoints have been reached (Dey & Schweitzer 2014), providing social learning (DellaSala et al 2003) and securing long-term sustainability. For example, in addition to quantifying the number of hectares reforested, monitoring may reveal why forest cover is increasing (e.g., Le et al 2014) or whether a restored area is providing expected environmental and social benefits (Cáceres et al 2015;Mansourian et al 2017). As FLR grows in international importance, participatory monitoring (Laake et al 2013;Boissière et al 2014;Pratihast et al 2014;Bellfield et al 2015) may play a critical role in providing a 2-way link between local aspirations and large-scale national and global goals.…”