Forest Landscape Restoration: Integrated Approaches to Support Effective Implementation

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is a planned process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human wellbeing in deforested or degraded landscapes. The aim of this book is to explore options to better integrate the diverse dimensions - spatial, disciplinary, sectoral, and scientific - of implementing FLR.

It demonstrates the value of an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to help implement FLR focusing specifically on four issues: understanding the drivers of forest loss and degradation in the context of interdisciplinary responses for FLR; learning from related integrated approaches; governance issues related to FLR as an integrated process; and the management, creation and use of different sources of knowledge in FLR implementation. The emphasis is on recognising the need to take human and institutional factors into consideration, as well as the more obvious biophysical factors. A key aim is to advance and accelerate the practice of FLR, given its importance, particularly in a world facing increasing environmental challenges, notably from climate change.

The first section of the book presents the issue from an analytical and problem-orientated viewpoint, while later sections focus on solutions. It will interest researchers and professionals in forestry, ecology, geography, environmental governance and landscape studies.

Stephanie Mansourian is an environmental consultant with a special interest in the restoration of forested landscapes and governance challenges related to large scale forest restoration. For five years she managed WWF International’s forest landscape restoration programme. As a consultant since 2004, she has been involved in a range of international environmental work including studying lessons from past FLR work, analysis of the SDGs, assessing governance challenges of FLR, as well as broader environmental project development and evaluation work. She has a PhD in Geography from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, where she is also a research associate.

John Parrotta is the national programme leader for international science issues with the USDA Forest Service’s Research & Development branch, and currently serves as a vice-president of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). His research experience and publications include work related to tropical forest ecology, silviculture, forest restoration, and traditional forest-related knowledge. He is a coordinating lead author of the 2018 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) thematic assessment report on land degradation and restoration.