natural regeneration in the context of integrated landscape management

Natural regeneration in the context of integrated landscape management:The potential of landscape initiatives as vehicles for scaling up natural regeneration

Abigail K. Hart

The Role of Natural Regeneration in Large-scale Forest Landscape Restoration: Challenge and Opportunity

19-21 November 2014

Outline

1. Brief intro to integrated landscape initiatives

2. What it would take to make the case for natural regeneration within landscape approaches

3. What is might look like to incorporate natural regeneration into landscape initiatives

4. Considerations for moving toward a global partnership

5. Potential ways to link to landscape initiatives through the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative

Integrated landscape management

1. Shared or agreed management objectives.

2. Practices are designed to contribute to multiple objectives.

3. Interactions are managed to realize synergies or to mitigate trade-offs.

4. Dialogue, planning, negotiating and monitoring processes are in place.

5. Markets and public policies are shaped to achieve landscape objectives.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Improve health or nutrition

Improve livestock productivity

Improve crop productivity

Reduce negative impacts of agriculture

Reduce conflict

Soil conservation

Conserve biodiversity

Reduce natural resource degradation

% of surveyed initiatives

Priorities of landscape initiatives

Milder et al. 2014, Estrada-Carmona et al. 2014, Hart et al. 2014

?

Natural regeneration in landscape approachesMaking the case for more than restoration

Protected natural habitats

Livestock production areas

Agricultural production with

perennials

Watershed management areas

What are the opportunities for natural regeneration in these niches?

What are the drivers, opportunities or incentives for choosing other management practices in

these niches?

What regulations and incentives would be needed at the policy level for natural regeneration to be a

logical choice?

The role of natural regeneration in landscape initiatives

Innovation Practice Innovation Type

Stage

Agroforestry practices in non-rice paddy areas

Crop & Livestock

Scale-up

Conservation agriculture Crop & Livestock

Scale-up

Natural regeneration of riparian buffers and community forest areas

Conservation& restoration

Design

Establishment of water user associations (WUA) for judicious use of the water and protecting the sources

Institutional & Policy Mechanisms

Reconstruction of canals Crop &Livestock

Idea, design

Participatory Village land use planning

Knowledge, learning and planning systems

Implementation

Credit: Google Earth

What are the barriers to adopting natural regeneration practices?

● Unclear land tenure

● Invasive species

● Demand for high-quality germplasm

● Lack of knowledge on managing naturally regenerated areas

● Lack of knowledge on applications for multiple use and mixed systems

Who should be engaged?

Groups with clear incentives for

natural regeneration

Groups which manage critical parts

of the landscape

Stakeholders who can create incentives

for natural regeneration

Groups which can provide provide information and build capacity on

natural regeneration

Groups with incentive have

information and capacity

Management power is paired with appropriate incentives

Often in the landscape

Often outside of the

landscape


Moving toward a global partnership on natural regeneration

How can natural regeneration contribute to solutions for some of the biggest challenges?

● Food security and food sovereignty

● Sustainable energy/biomass production

● Climate change



Clarifying the policy implications of natural regeneration for:

● Conservation

● Climate change

● Public lands

● Land tenure



Challenges for the group:

● Already exploring examples of restoration in diverse socio-political settings – willing to test and learn from ecologically diverse examples?

● Clarify incentives for natural regeneration for different stakeholder groups and different land tenure regimes

● Transparent about the agendas of your organizations in promoting natural regeneration and how these interests may or may not align with stakeholders at other scales

Opportunities to connect with LPFN

● Providing technical information for diverse stakeholders

● Training courses and modules

● Start a learning landscape network for natural regeneration or work through existing networks to test ideas

THANKS!Contact: [email protected]

natural regeneration in the context of integrated landscape management

Environment