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Soil ecosystem service (SES) approaches evidence the importance of soil for human well-being, contribute to improving dialogue between science and decision-making and encourage the translation of scientific results into public policies. Herein, through systematic review, we assess the state of the art of SES approaches in tropical regions. Through this review, 41 publications were identified; while most of these studies considered SES, a lack of a consistent framework to define SES was apparent. Most studies measured soil natural capital and processes, while only three studies undertook monetary valuation. Although the number of publications increased (from 1 to 41), between 2001 and 2019, the total number of publications for tropical regions is still small. Countries with the largest number of publications were Brazil ( n = 8), Colombia ( n = 6) and Mexico ( n = 4). This observation emphasizes an important knowledge gap pertaining to SES approaches and their link to tropical regions. With global momentum behind SES approaches, there is an opportunity to integrate SES approaches into policy and practice in tropical regions. The use of SES evaluation tools in tropical regions could transform how land use decisions are informed, mitigating soil degradation and protecting the ecosystems that soil underpins.

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Brazil is a megadiversity country with more tropical forest than any other, and is a leading agricultural producer. The technical potential to reconcile these roles by concentrating agriculture on existing farmland and sparing land for nature is well-established, but the spatial overlap of this potential with conservation priorities and institutional constraints remains poorly understood. We mapped conservation priorities, food production potential and socioeconomic variables likely to influence the success of land sparing. Pasture occupies 70% of agricultural land but contributes ≤11% of the domestic food supply. Increasing yields on pasture would add little to Brazil's food supply but-if combined with concerted conservation and restoration policies-provides the greatest opportunities for reducing land demand. Our study illustrates a method for identifying municipalities where land-sparing policies are most likely to succeed, and those where further effort is needed to overcome constraints such as land tenure insecurity, lack of access to technical advice, labour constraints, and non-compliance with environmental law. Continuing to produce food while averting the mass extinction of biodiversity are two of the greatest challenges facing humanity this century. One promising approach to address both is to protect and restore native vegetation, while increasing yields to minimize the area required for croplands and pasture 1. In broad terms, the biophysical and technical potential to spare land for nature in this way is well-established 2. This is the case in Brazil, a megadiversity country which supports more tropical forest than any other, and which is among the world's leading producers of beef, soybeans, sugarcane and other commodities. Increasing yields of pasturelands in Brazil to half of their potential would release enough cultivated land to meet even the highest demand scenarios for meat, crops, wood products and biofuels until at least 2040, without further loss of native vegetation 3. Less is known, however, about how the potential for both production and conservation are distributed in relation to each other across the country, and in relation to social and economic conditions conducive to land sparing 4. Land-sparing policies must deliver two concurrent outcomes-conserving native vegetation and increasing yields-and to do so will typically need to create linkages between these outcomes. Such policies are more likely to succeed when certain enabling conditions are in place (Table 1) 5. Adoption of more sustainable, high-yielding methods will be facilitated by access to extension services, availability of sufficient skilled labour and land tenure security. However, attempts to implement land sparing are vulnerable to rebound effects, where some of the land savings of yield increases are cancelled out by greater incentives for agricultural expansion 6. Backfire, when yield

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.

Timber was an important resource for the construction of colonial Brazil, although pertinent information is limited. We used the available archival material and an interdisciplinary methodology, spanning historical, botanical and ethnobotanical methods, to illuminate the exploitation of native timber during the colonial period and its relevance for the contemporary conservation status of the Atlantic Forest. Central to our methodology was the development of a standardized protocol focusing on folk names for timber trees, which permitted us to relate historical records and ecological data. Even though historical information is scarce, scattered, and sometimes contradictory, we could demonstrate the past prestige of timber as well as the harvest impact on local forests. We conclude that the extensive exploitation of the Atlantic Forest's timber resources throughout the colonial period contributed to the current state of vegetation, where many of the species abundant in the past are now rare and threatened.

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Recent efforts to achieve social, economic, and environmental goals related to sustainability emphasize the importance of nature-based solutions (NBS), as grey infrastructure alone is insufficient to address current challenges. The majority of frameworks proposed in the literature fail to address the full potential of NBS, neglecting long-term results, unintended consequences, co-benefits, and their contribution to achieving global environmental agreements, such as the Agenda 2030, especially for water management in a peri-urban context. Here we present an innovative framework that can be applied to both NBS project planning and evaluation for several water-based challenges, giving practitioners and researchers a tool not only to evaluate ongoing projects but also to guide new ones. The framework considers three main stages of a NBS project: (1) context assessment, (2) NBS implementation and adaptation process, and (3) NBS results. This tool has the potential to be used to evaluate whether NBS projects are aligned with sustainability dimensions through a set of adaptable sustainability indicators. The framework can also highlight how the NBS targets are related to the sustainable development goals (SGD) and contribute to catalyzing the 2030 Agenda. The framework is an important tool for water management and other NBS types.