Landscape Restoration Initiatives Research Articles

Trees on smallholder farms and forest restoration are critical for Rwanda to achieve net zero emissions

Landscape restoration initiatives are mainly focusing on forest regeneration and agroforestry, especially in the Global South. However, due to a lack of monitoring tools, the carbon balance of restoration efforts remains poorly quantified. Here, we use satellite images from 2008 and 2019 to calculate carbon stocks for individual trees in Rwanda, a country which has been actively engaged in restoration activities over the past decade. We show that smallholder farmers on average planted about 3 trees per farm during 2008–2019, contributing about 50.4 million new trees at the national scale. The overall C sink of the new farmland trees was 0.13 Megagrams of Carbon per hectare per year, which is 6 times lower than gains observed from restoration of degraded forests (0.76 Megagrams of Carbon per hectare per year). If national greenhouse gas emissions remain at the level of 2019, agroforestry (~61% of national area coverage) and continued restoration of degraded natural forests (~0.5% of national area coverage) have the potential to offset about 80% of the national emissions before 2050. Our work monitors and quantifies progress and impact of landscape restoration projects and outlines a pathway to engage smallholder farmers with a limited number of on-farm trees into the expanding carbon market.

A Landscape Restoration Initiative Reverses Desertification with High Spatiotemporal Variability in the Hinterland of Northwest China

Although we are in an era of enormous global commitments to ecological restoration (the UN Decade on ER; the Bonn Challenge), little attention has been paid to the importance of sustained commitment to individual restoration initiatives and few resources have been dedicated to monitoring, especially the long-term and broad-scale evaluations that would allow us to understand how basin-scale restoration can result in complex spatiotemporal patterns. Remote sensing offers a powerful tool for evaluating restoration initiatives focused on water management in arid regions, where changes in vegetation growth can be tracked visually with measures like the generalized difference vegetation index (GDVI). In this paper, we evaluate the Comprehensive Treatment Program of the Shiyang River Basin (CTSRB), a landscape restoration initiative in China’s northwest, using a widely available remote sensing tool, showing how it can reveal the causes of fluctuating changes in restoration success. We focus on spatiotemporal variation, studying a time series from 2001 to 2020 using regression, trend, and stability analyses for six different divisions of the study region (the study area as a whole, the irrigated areas, the periphery of the irrigated regions, and the districts of Ba, Quanshan, and Hu) to evaluate the effects of the restoration initiative. The study period was divided into four equal-length phases based on the implementation timeline of the CTSRB, which includes one pre- and post-intervention interval and two stages of the CTSRB. We found that the CTSRB has played a positive role in the restoration of vegetation in the Minqin Basin, especially desert vegetation. However, the positive effects were not obvious in the first CTSRB period, which was characterized by a decline in vegetation growth likely caused by the strategy of “close the pumping-wells, transform the land”, which reversed a greening trend caused by the unsustainable irrigation of wasteland prior to the project’s initiation. During the second phase of the CTSRB, vegetation in the regions of “transform the land” gradually improved, and the growth of desert vegetation gradually improved and expanded as a result of more water flowing out of agricultural zones. The rate of vegetation recovery slowed down during the final phase of the CTSRB, and some areas even experienced a decline in the GDVI. Overall, our findings show that the CTSRB, by integrating water management and allowing for uninterrupted ecological restoration, drove complex regional changes in the GDVI, including successful restoration of desert vegetation. The spatiotemporal variable we observed underscores the importance of long-term commitment to arid land restoration initiatives and the importance of even longer-term monitoring using tools like remote sensing.

Restoring Food Systems with Nutritious Native Plants: Experiences from the African Drylands.

Twenty-seven African countries have committed to restore more than 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100). In addition, for the same period of time, the African-led Great Green Wall initiative seeks to restore 100 million hectares of degraded agro-sylvo-pastoral lands in the Sahel. The current UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) moreover marks an unprecedented opportunity to shape future landscapes, and forge more biodiverse and nutritious food systems. Yet most large-scale restoration actions continue to be largely isolated from socioeconomic challenges facing dryland communities, not least food security and acute malnutrition. Such isolations contribute to low restoration successes and outcomes in Africa's drylands. At the same time, international interventions aimed at improving acute malnutrition in the drylands have not adequately considered the agriculture-nutrition linkages, particularly "pre-farm gate"-including consumption pathways which optimize the use of native plant diversity. This article identifies priority action areas emerging from experiences over 5 years of restoration activities carried out in the Sahel through Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Action Against Desertification Programme supporting the implementation of Africa's Great Green Wall. These actions aim to inform development and humanitarian interventions on the ground to render restoration interventions nutrition-sensitive and hence more effective in practice. Recognizing the symbiotic relationship between landscapes and livelihoods, FAO developed a blueprint for large-scale restoration that combines biophysical and socioeconomic aspects for the benefit of rural communities. The approach builds climate and nutritional resilience into its restoration interventions as a preventative approach to reverse land degradation and ultimately improve livelihoods, food security, and nutrition. FAO's experience demonstrated that what is planted and when has the potential to not only significantly improve biodiversity and reverse land degradation, but also positively influence nutrition outcomes. Future interventions in the drylands must involve joint efforts between nutritionists and natural resource managem prove both human and planetary health.

Review on Factors Affecting Early Survival of Tree /Shrub Seedlings and it’s Remedy in Restoration Sites of Ethiopia

Abstract Restoration activities in degraded and/or deforested forest landscapes are common and old occurrences around the world. Tree planting is common in most forest landscape restoration initiatives. In Ethiopia, eight seedling-based landscape restoration options are identified to alleviate land degradation and its consequences. The primary purpose of this work was to review factors affecting the early survival of tree and shrub seedlings and their remedies in the restoration sites of Ethiopia. Drought and moisture stress, low soil fertility, poor seedling quality, weak species site matching, termites, livestock grazing, and seasonal frost are the basic factors that hinder the survival and growth of seedlings in the field. In situ rainwater harvesting structures, fertilizer application, the use of quality seedlings, the right species site matching, and the exclusion of livestock and grazing animals from planted seedlings are the remedies that must be employed to increase the success of tree-based restoration practices. Thus, further investigation of the factors affecting the survival of seedlings in the out-planting sites and remediation accordingly is necessary to ensure the productivity and sustainability of restoration practices in Ethiopia.

Building bridges for inspired action: On landscape restoration and social alliances

Abstract Participatory approaches are linked to landscape restoration (LR) success, but not all participatory approaches are created equal. Engagement approaches that invest in transformative stakeholder and governance processes can create the right conditions for long‐term LR commitment. A large‐scale LR initiative in Spain, namely AlVelAl, illustrates how collective action can be activated through inspiration, trust and hope, which, in turn, can be cultivated through the application of social schemes designed to support inclusive stakeholder engagement processes and programmes. Collective agency and inspiration matter for activating and sustaining LR actions and outcomes. Multi‐stakeholder partnerships that speak to human agency, inclusivity and trust between actors can help create a deeper shared meaning, a place‐based sense of belonging that encourages cohesive landscape stewardship.

Fighting climate change with bamboo in Africa: The case of Kyela, Rungwe and Mufindi districts – Tanzania

Responding to the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), 32 countries have committed to restoring more than 100 million hectares of land across Africa by 2030. Bamboo is being discussed as one of the nature-based solutions to achieve this ambitious target in the face of climate change. Major advantages are that it is a fast-growing versatile woody grass that can prosper in degraded lands. So far, landscape restoration strategies are driven by climate policy debates where bamboo is largely neglected. Most empirical research on the potential of bamboo for fighting climate change has been conducted in Asia, leaving open questions on the transferability of results to the African context. In this paper, we contribute to the debate by investigating how bamboo can contribute to climate change mitigation, especially in degraded ecosystems. Taking Tanzania as an example, we lay a special focus on bamboo carbon sequestration and storage potential and assess the dynamics of carbon stocks: (i) across an elevation gradient, (ii) between indigenous and exotic bamboo species, and (iii) between intensively and extensively managed bamboo ecosystems. We collected data from 60 destructive sample plots and estimated biomass carbon stocks in the aboveground carbon pool. The weighted average biomass, carbon stocks, and sequestration rates obtained were 52.4 t ha−1, 26.2 t C ha−1, and 19 t C ha−1yr−1, respectively. The ANOVA revealed a significant variation in carbon stocks across an elevation gradient and between bamboo species (P < 0.05), which explained 22% and 11% of the total variation. We also observed a significant two-way-factors interaction between elevation versus species and silvicultural management options (P < 0.05), explaining 12% and 5% of the total variation, respectively. Similarly, a three-way interaction between all factors was significant, accounting for 4% of the total aboveground carbon variation. Our results contribute to developing a more nuanced picture of the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating bamboo in landscape restoration efforts. The novel findings may be a first step toward unlocking future climate finance in Africa.

Forest landscape restoration in Ethiopia: Progress and challenges

The government of Ethiopia has made an ambitious plan of building a carbon-neutral and middle-income economy by 2030. In 2016, the country pledged to restore 15 million hectares of degraded landscapes as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR 100). A total of three major forest landscape restoration (FLR) initiatives have been used to achieve this target: participatory forest management (PFM) to engage communities in sustainably managing natural forests; area enclosures/exclosures (AEs) to socially fence hillsides and degraded communal lands and allow these areas regain their productive potential; and sustainable land management program and the Green Legacy Initiative (SLM-GLI) that aim at conserving soil and water resources and planting seedlings to increase forest cover. After describing these FLR initiatives, this study evaluated their impacts on land use land cover change over time and assessed them against the six FLR principles by selecting nationally relevant criteria under each principle. The results showed that the FLR initiatives were rated rather low in terms of focusing on and managing landscapes for multiple benefits, in participation and benefits of stakeholders, in ownership and use rights, in employing approaches tailored to the local context, and in managing adaptively for long-term resilience. Concerning impacts, varying trends were observed for different areas, time periods, and restoration types. Recognizing and mitigating the limitations of these initiatives together with addressing site-specific drivers will improve the conservation and livelihood outcomes of FLR initiatives in Ethiopia. It is hoped that the findings of the study will inform FLR practitioners in other countries on the practical use of FLR principles in assessing the impacts of FLR initiatives.

Landsat NDVI-based vegetation degradation dynamics and its response to rainfall variability and anthropogenic stressors in Southern Bui Plateau, Cameroon

• Long-term vegetation degradation is assessed by means of time-series Landsat NDVI. • Mean annual NDVI and rainfall anomaly index (RAI) were compared. • Anthropogenic stressors are primarily responsible for vegetation degradation. • Vegetation degradation leads to declining land productivity and ecosystem services. Land degradation is a serious problem affecting the livelihoods of people leaving in marginal lands. Its assessment has been made easy by a plethora of remote sensing techniques. This study seeks to establish the spatiotemporal trends in vegetation degradation and its response to climate change and anthropogenic stressors in Southern Bui Plateau, Cameroon. The study used mean annual Landsat-derived NDVI of cloud-free months to model vegetation degradation dynamics over 37 years (1984–2021) based on Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Regression and Pearson's Product Correlation of NDVI with Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI) on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Areas undergoing significant degradation are estimated at 10.81% (1469.08 km 2 ) and slight degradation, 23.57% (3202.39 km 2 ). Total degraded lands accounted for 34.38% (either 4671.47 km 2 ). Areas with slight improvement in vegetation cover accounted for 24.88%, while 9.69% area showed significant improvement. NDVI-Rainfall relationship revealed that areas significantly impacted by human activities and pressures ( r ≤ -0.50) driving vegetation changes covered 24.67% (either 3352.03 km 2 ), while those under climatic variability and change influence ( r ≥ 0.50 ≥ 0.90) accounted for 55.84% (either 7587.26 km 2 ), under both climatic and human stressors ( r ≥ 0.50 < 0.70), 13.09% (either 1779.01 km 2 ) and areas not significantly impacted, i.e., somewhat stable nature over the years accounted for 6.40% (869.04 km 2 ). Areas under human vegetation pressures occupy the heavily grazed landscapes, the transhumance paths, and forested areas of the Kilum-Ijim forest. The practice of sustainable land management and landscape restoration initiatives are key to achieving land degradation neutrality at watershed scale.

Distribution and cultural identity of sacred groves in Togo

Sacred groves are important for biodiversity conservation but they face several threats. This study explores the contribution of these forest to the Togo Forest Landscape Restoration initiative and REDD+ implementation, based on inventories and systematic mapping. The results reveal that Togo has more than 780 sacred groves which cover 3,627.68 ha. The vegetation types cover by the sacred groves are woodlands (1 974.3 ha), dry semi-deciduous forests (882.52 ha) and tree savannas (537.82 ha). Many deities and vocations were associated with the sacred groves; ceremonial and prayer sacred groves (80,86%), voodoo and conservation sacred groves (12,46%), cemetery or burial sacred groves (3,11%), residence or retreat sacred groves (2.52%), secret meetings, and festivities or celebrations sacred groves (1,03%). These results highlight the need to consider sacred groves within the framework of the Togo Forest Landscape Restoration initiative and implementation of REDD+ strategies.

Towards accurate mapping of forest in tropical landscapes: A comparison of datasets on how forest transition matters

Tropical forests represent half of the Earth's remaining forest area, but they are shrinking at high rates, which poses a threat to their multiple ecosystem services. As a response, international environmental agreements and related programs require information about tropical forested landscapes. Despite the increasing quantity and quality of remote sensing-based data, the effective monitoring of forests in the tropics still faces operational challenges: (a) applicability at local levels, with lack of reference or cloud-free information; (b) overcoming geographical, ecological, or biophysical variability; (c): stratification, distinguishing forest categories related to functionality and disturbance history.We conducted an extensive ground verification campaign through 36 landscapes in 9 regions of Zambia, Ecuador and Philippines, which constitute a gradient of pantropical deforestation contexts or forest transitions. We collected over 16,000 ground control points and digitized over 18,000 ha with details on land use and forest disturbance history. We trained a random forest algorithm and generated high-resolution (30 m) binary forest maps covering ~15 Mha, building on 39 optical (Landsat-8), radar (Sentinel-1) and elevation bands, indices and textures. We validated the quality of the outputs across the studied deforestation gradient and compared them to (a): 3 national land cover maps used for international reporting, (b): 4 global forest datasets (Global Forest Change, Copernicus Land Cover, JAXA and TanDEM-X Forest/Non-Forest).Our method generated highly accurate (92%) forest maps for the studied regions when compared to the global datasets, which generally overestimated forest cover. We achieved accuracies similar to the national maps, following a standardized method for all countries. The difficulties in delineating forest increased in more advanced stages of deforestation, with recurring struggles to distinguish non-forest tree-based systems (e.g. perennials, palms, or agroforestry), shrublands and grasslands. Regrowth forests were repeatedly misclassified across contexts, countries and datasets, in contrast to reference or degraded forests. Our results highlight the importance of in situ verification as accompanying method to establish efficient forest monitoring systems, especially in areas with higher rates of forest cover change and in tropical regions of advanced deforestation or early reforestation stages. These are precisely the areas where current REDD+ or Forest Landscape Restoration initiatives take place.

Sixty-five years of forest restoration in Nepal: Lessons learned and way forward

The increasing incidence of forest and land degradation is affecting billions of people, and causing loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Realizing the importance of forest restoration in moderating those impacts, various global and regional forest restoration initiatives (including Bonn Challenge 2011 and UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) have been launched. But the gap between restoration commitments and their ground realities is becoming a huge challenge because of the limited knowledge on forest restoration approach as well as underlying socio-economic and ecological factors impacting the restoration undertaking. Moreover, few studies have comprehensively looked at institutional, socio-economic, and ecological aspects of forest restoration in a common framework. By employing a systematic review of the literature (n = 64), review of policies, plans and project reports (n = 58) and expert survey (n = 22), this study has navigated the rise and fall of Nepal’s 65 years of forest restoration practices. Our study found that Nepal’s forest restoration interventions from 1956 to the early 1980s got mixed results because of the limited integration of socio-economic and ecological concerns in restoration programs. However, forest restoration works after the mid-1980 s charted a more successful pathway because of (1) policies favouring decentralized decision making and local institutions; (2) devolution of rights and responsibilities; (3) firmed commitment for and adoption of multistakeholder partnership for the forest and landscape restoration; (4) recognition of multifunctionality of forest ecosystems; (5) accommodation of socio-economic and ecological concerns in restoration program; 6) adoption of multiple restoration approaches at multiple scales; and 7) capacity development and extension services. As institutional, socio-economic, and ecological factors are often been overlooked in forest and landscape restoration initiatives, the inferences we made and suggestions we provided can inform the policymakers and practitioners (of Nepal and other countries) in translating regional and global restoration commitments into action.

Are Landscape Restoration Interventions Sustainable? A Case for the Upper Tana Basin of Kenya

Landscape restoration initiatives often have the potential to result in environmental gains, but the question of whether these gains are sustainable and how they are linked to other community needs (social, productivity and economic gains) remains unclear. We use the Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) to demonstrate how environmental benefits are linked to productivity, environment, social, human, and economic components. Using the SIAF, the standardization of relevant indicators across multiple objectives provided a contextual representation of sustainability. The study assessed the overall gains resulting from the measured indicators of sustainable land management (SLM) practices and their relationship to the multiple domains of the SIAF. We present a unique case for SLM options using a combined-methods approach where biophysical, socio-economic, and citizen science help assess the sustainability of the interventions. Using a participatory approach with farmers, land restoration options were conducted in four target micro-watersheds for 3 years (2015–2017). Co-developed restoration measures at the landscape level within the four micro-watersheds (MW1-MW4) resulted in a substantial increment (50%) for all treatments (grass strips, terraces, and a combination of grass strips and terraces) in soil moisture storage and increased maize and forage production. We demonstrate that SLM practices, when used in combination, greatly reduce soil erosion and are profitable and sustainable while conferring livelihood benefits to smallholder farmers.

How Is Forest Landscape Restoration Being Implemented in Burkina Faso? Overview of Ongoing Initiatives

Land degradation affects a significant portion of the Earth’s ice-free land area and several countries have embraced the challenge of restoring large parts of their degraded lands. Success in these efforts depends on various factors, including the amount of resources invested, the technical capacity available and the degree of involvement of stakeholders. Burkina Faso has committed to restoring 5 Mha of degraded land by 2030. We identified 39 forest landscape restoration initiatives (FLR) in this country and interviewed their managers to obtain an overview of critical aspects and constraints that could orient future efforts. Our results show a recent growth of FLR initiatives, as most of the projects examined started in the last few years; however, the scale of implementation seems incompatible with country-level targets. Funding is coming mainly from international cooperation and this may lead to risks in long-term continuity and sustainability of FLR. Furthermore, FLR projects are carried out by a multitude of agencies, with local NGOs and associations as the main players; this finding highlights the need to coordinate ongoing efforts and flag challenges in tracking progress. Tree planting is common to most FLR initiatives examined, with aspects of quality and quantity of planting material available becoming critical in ensuring success; this raises the need to ensure farmers are well-trained in its collection and handling. Finally, more homogeneous approaches in monitoring across FLR initiatives should be adopted.

Social as much as environmental: the drivers of tree biomass in smallholder forest landscape restoration programmes

A major challenge for forest landscape restoration initiatives is the lack of quantitative evidence on how social factors drive environmental outcomes. Here we conduct an interdisciplinary quantitative analysis of the environmental and social drivers of tree biomass accumulation across 639 smallholder farms restoring native tree species in Mexico, Uganda and Mozambique. We use environmental and social data to assess the relative effects of key hypothesised drivers on aboveground biomass accumulation at the farm-level over ten years. We supplement this with a qualitative analysis of perspectives from local farmers and agroforestry technicians on the potential causal mechanisms of the observed social effects. We find that the material wellbeing of farmers (e.g. assets) and access to agroforestry knowledge explain as much variation in biomass as water availability. Local perspectives suggest that this is caused by the higher adaptive capacity of some farmers and their associated ability to respond to social-ecological shocks and stresses. Additionally, the variation in biomass between farms increased over time. Local perspectives suggested that this was caused by emergent exogenous and stochastic influences which cannot be reliably predicted in technical analyses and guidance. To deal with this persistent uncertainty, local perspectives emphasised the need for flexible and adaptive processes at the farm- and village-levels. The consistency of these findings across three countries suggests these findings are relevant to similar forest restoration interventions. Our findings provide novel quantitative evidence of a social-ecological pathway where the adaptive capacity of local land users can improve ecological processes. Our findings emphasize the need for forest restoration programmes to prioritise investment in the capabilities of local land users, and to ensure that rules support, rather than hinder, adaptive management.

Ultimately, What is Forest Landscape Restoration in Practice? Embodiments in Sub-Saharan Africa and Implications for Future Design.

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is gaining ground as a novel, holistic approach to sustainable environmental management across developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, 30 countries have joined the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative to advance FLR goals. Although conceptually compelling, and despite efforts articulating initial implementation guidelines, divergent discourses and interpretations confound FLR translation into practice. We propose a characterization of FLR in practice using insights from political ecology; principles of ecological restoration and landscape sustainability science; and the philosophy, principles, and objectives of the FLR paradigm. Our qualitative analysis further draws on secondary data and insights from participant observation during FLR-related workshops. We build and organize the FLR characterization around answers to ten questions: why restoration; what purpose; for what desired outcomes; where (location and land uses); what spatial extent and scale(s); who; which techniques; how (approach/strategy); when and how long; and how much to achieve. We then assess early FLR strategic priorities for interventions across nine African countries and analyze five selected actual projects to illustrate use of the proposed FLR characterization framework. The illustrative characterization of both planned interventions and actual projects does not reflect all the proposed characteristics of FLR in practice. Missing features include the initial biophysical condition, the desired target ecosystem state, and evaluation dimensions, and ill-articulated aspects include cross-sectoral integrations. We contend that any significant differences between FLR conceptualization, including its principles, and the practical manifestations can undermine coherence, the value that the FLR approach adds, and its wider adoption. The proposed characterization of FLR in practice contributes to scholarly attempts to realign FLR conceptual philosophy, principles, and rhetoric to its practical manifestations in different contexts, and can inform future design of FLR undertakings for more inclusive landscape governance.

Private funding is essential to leverage forest and landscape restoration at global scales.

Private-sector capital is needed to scale-up forest and landscape restoration initiatives globally. To ensure the delivery of social and environmental restoration objectives, investors need to be matched appropriately to different types of restoration projects, while policies need to realign investment incentives away from degradation-driving activities.

Collaborative restoration effects on forest structure in ponderosa pine-dominated forests of Colorado

In response to large, severe wildfires in historically fire-adapted forests in the western US, policy initiatives, such as the USDA Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), seek to increase the pace and scale of ecological restoration. One required component of this program is collaborative adaptive management, in which monitoring data are used to iteratively evaluate and improve future management actions. Here, we assess the success of seven CFLRP treatments, implemented on 2,300 ha during the first three years of the Colorado Front Range Landscape Restoration Initiative (LRI) at achieving desired forest structure by comparing pre- and post-treatment conditions. We also compare post-treatment conditions with reconstructions of historical (ca. 1860) forest conditions to contextualize the magnitude of treatment effects. Restoration projects moved stands toward desired conditions by reducing basal area, tree density, and canopy cover and increasing average tree diameter, large gap cover, and abundance of small- to medium-sized tree groups. Post-treatment stands were similar to historical stands with respect to basal area of ponderosa pine; however, they had higher total tree density and fewer gaps than historical reference conditions, suggesting that restoration prescriptions may be improved with increased flexibility for density reduction of Douglas-fir and increased gap creation. This examination of early CFLRP treatment outcomes as they relate to desired conditions informs potential areas of adjustments to future treatments and provides baseline data to evaluate the evolution of treatments over the program’s lifespan. We also identify and discuss several scientific, social, and logistical constraints to large-scale restoration success and make several recommendations to improve restoration outcomes.

Regulating the Quality of Seedlings for Forest Restoration: Lessons from the National Greening Program in the Philippines

The use of low quality planting material is one of the major reasons for the limited success of past reforestation programs in the Philippines and elsewhere in the tropics. In the Philippines, a national policy has been in place since 2010, which regulates the quality of seedlings. As part of the policy, government reforestation programs are required to use only high quality seedlings from accredited seedling suppliers. A survey of nurseries producing seedlings for the National Greening Program in Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao regions was carried out to determine the effectiveness and challenges in implementing the forest nursery accreditation policy. The survey identified factors that limit the effectiveness of seedling quality regulation including lack of auditing of seedling quality in accredited nurseries, insufficient monitoring of the seedling supply chain among the network of nurseries supplying seedlings for reforestation programs, inadequate seedling production schedules, and inappropriate criteria for seedling quality assessment. The limited sources of high quality germplasm, nursery operators’ limited information on the attributes of high quality planting materials and lack of knowledge about high quality seedling production technologies contributed to the widespread production of low quality seedlings. The lack of seedling quality checks makes the government’s bidding scheme of seedling purchases prone to favouring the proliferation of low quality seedlings that are usually sold at lower prices. Nursery accreditation represents a major initiative in promoting the success of Philippine reforestation but our study found that considerable improvement of the policy and of its implementation is necessary. From our study, key lessons can be learned for the implementation of forest landscape restoration initiatives in other tropical developing countries.

Have we been successful? Monitoring horizontal forest complexity for forest restoration projects

Forest management today often seeks to restore ecological integrity and enhance human well‐being by increasing forest complexity, resilience, and functionality. However, effective and financially expedient monitoring of forest complexity is challenging. In this study, we developed a practical and inexpensive technique to measure horizontal forest complexity. This monitoring method uses intuitively understandable data (imagery) and facilitates stakeholder participation in the adaptive management process within collaborative projects. We used this technique to determine if current restoration projects are successfully achieving their spatial restoration goals. We focused on the Colorado Front Range Landscape Restoration Initiative (CFRLRI) as a representative of the typical collaborative restoration projects underway in formerly fire‐dependent dry conifer forests. The developed monitoring method is practical and cost‐effective by using free aerial imagery to map, quantify, and analyze the distribution of canopy cover pre‐ and post‐treatment. We found the CFRLRI has successfully reduced canopy cover (from 44 to 26% on average) and increased some aspects of horizontal forest complexity. The application of these monitoring techniques has allowed the CFRLRI collaborative group to objectively quantify changes to horizontal forest complexity, and has facilitated stakeholder communication about forest spatial patterns. These methods could be adapted for use by other similar forest restoration projects around the world by utilizing increasingly available satellite or aerial imagery.

Silviculture of the Colorado Front Range Landscape Restoration Initiative

Silviculture of the Colorado Front Range Landscape Restoration Initiative