Local Perception in Forest Landscape Restoration Planning: A Case Study From the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Understanding local stakeholders' perception and their relation with the landscape and its natural resources is an important step for successfully implementing Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). Here, we present a case study on FLR in the context of a global biodiversity hotspot—the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, using a participatory approach to include local stakeholders' knowledge and perception of the landscape into project planning. We analyzed the land use and cover, and organized a workshop with focus group methodology associated with maps and other visual representations to assess local perceptions of economic activities, production chains and their impacts on the landscape and ecosystem services. The study area encompasses seven municipalities mainly covered by native vegetation and pastures. Despite pastureland being the prominent land use in the region, they are not engaged in associations, most do not live in the region, and few participated in the workshop. Most participants were small and medium-scale landowners involved in agricultural activities who demonstrated a detailed knowledge of the territory, a disposition toward combining conservation with production practices, and a positive perception regarding ecotourism, agroecological approaches, water, and soil conservation. The participatory approach proved effective to complement the initial assessment while revealing novel aspects of the landscape and the landowners, helping test our hypotheses and adjust the engaging narratives for future FLR activities planning in the region, including environmental law compliance. More studies associating social and natural science, including participatory methods and local communities' perception, are needed to fully comprehend the drivers of stakeholders' engagement. This case study provides useful insights for other researchers and practitioners to design more effective plans for future land management.

Local Communities’ and Parishioners’ Perceptions on Monasteries’ Forest Patch Plant Biodiversity Conservation in Northern Wollo Ethiopia

“…It is mandatory to inquire why they conserve and what to conserve. Maioli et al [27] further argue that the stockholder's opinion on the conservation of the ecology is crucial. Age and education levels of the respondents are important factors because as they spend more time in the area, they are more likely to comprehend the value of the forest areas for human survival life.…”

Stepping on invisible land: on the importance of communicating the value of soils

“…Soil has, however, historically received less attention than other natural resources, such as water, in the context of conservation. It is important to acknowledge this gap and address it to incentivise and inform better soil use and adoption of better land management practices [17,22,23].…”

“…Although increased awareness does not imply immediate behavioural change, understanding stakeholders' perception is a step toward social engagement [15]. Social engagement, in turn, is paramount in the context of land conservation and restoration, an increasingly popular approach to protect biodiversity [16,17].…”

“…To achieve these objectives, we used a mixed-method research approach that involves interdisciplinary team. This is a standard robust approach to aid addressing a complex problem [17,22,23].…”

Soil organic carbon primarily control the soil moisture characteristic during forest restoration in subtropical China

“…At an ecosystem scale, soil carbon and hydrological processes are strongly connected (Sun et al, 2019). Consequently, the functions and processes of forest soil carbon sequestration and water conservation have garnered extensive attention worldwide in the context of widespread vegetation regeneration and increasingly severe climate change effects (DeLuca and Aplet, 2008;Maioli et al, 2021). It is crucial to investigate the carbon and water storage of forest soil and its coupling mechanism to elucidate the production, ecological function formation, and response mechanism of forest ecosystems in the context of vegetation and climate change.…”