A framework for drivers fostering social-ecological restoration within forest landscape based on people’s participation. A systematic literature review

Abstract

Degradation exacerbates food and water insecurity, economic hardship, biodiversity loss, and the devastating effects of climate change. Given that ecosystem restoration is a global challenge, the United Nations declared 2021 to 2030 as the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.Many ecological restoration projects overlook social perspectives, resulting in unsuccessful restoration outcomes within Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). Against this background, we review social-ecological restoration frameworks and summarize seven key balanced drivers that could help enhance the adoption of ecosystem restoration in a dynamic social context. The drivers relate to including the most affected communities, privileging local knowledge and practices, empowering local representatives and opinion leaders, ensuring social and environmental justice and equity, targeting deep leverage points, aligning restoration practices with local needs and aspirations, and connecting neighboring communities.We argue that ecosystem restoration will be most effective if approached from a social-ecological perspective. In developing countries, establishing social groups that share savings and credit structures within neighboring households can be a sustainable approach. With increasing global initiatives, taking a social-ecological perspective on ecosystem restoration as a social-ecological restoration approach offers new opportunities for both research and practice. Social-ecological restoration is a key strategy that can support the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and deliver net positive gains environmentally, socially, and economically. Further studies should focus on two new cross-cutting aspects: the ecological and social effects of restoration at small to large scales and social ecological restoration and peace building within a restorative landscape.

Explore before you restore: Incorporating complex systems thinking in ecosystem restoration

“…Furthermore, we acknowledge that ecological aspects alone are not sufficient to explain failed restoration outcomes (Elias et al, 2022;Maniraho et al, 2023). The process of successfully and efficiently restoring degraded ecosystems also relies on the trust and engagement of relevant stakeholder groups such as local communities and authorities, and on the social-economic and political settings such as functionality of the land tenure policies (Ahammad et al, 2023;Metcalf et al, 2015;Petursdottir et al, 2013;Walters et al, 2021).…”

“…That is, our framework (i) focuses on the ecological dimension of CS dynamics, which is nested within a broader social-ecological dimension (Nikinmaa, 2020) and (ii) assumes that restoration planning is being approached from a social-ecological perspective, that is the interventions are designed with careful consideration of social-economic as well as ecological dimensions (Crow, 2014;Elias et al, 2022;Lade et al, 2013;Maniraho et al, 2023;Nayak & Armitage, 2018).…”

“…Suggested CSS aspects to be incorporated in the project cycle are in bold. Importantly, our framework assumes that restoration planning (i) carefully considers the social-economic dimensions (in addition to ecological ones) and (ii) is approached from a social-ecological perspective (Crow, 2014;Elias et al, 2022;Maniraho et al, 2023).…”