Reconciling rural development and ecological restoration: Strategies and policy recommendations for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Increased demand for both agricultural production and forest restoration may lead to increased competition for land in the next decades. Sustainably increasing cattle ranching productivity is a potential solution to reconcile different land uses, while also improving biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services. If not strategically implemented in integration with complementary policies, sustainable intensification can however result in negative environmental, economic and social effects. We analyzed the potential for sustainable intensification as a solution for a conflict between agricultural expansion and forest restoration in the Paraitinga Watershed at the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a global biodiversity hotspot. In addition, we provide policy recommendations for sustainable development in the region, based on interviews with producers and local actors. We found that the Paraitinga Watershed has the potential to increase its cattle-ranching productivity and, as a result, relinquish spare land for other uses. This was true even in the most conservative intensification scenario considered (50% of the maximum potential productivity reached), in which 76,702 ha of pastures can be spared for other uses (46% of total pasture area). We found that restoration, apiculture and rural tourism are promising activities to promote sustainable development in the region, thus potentially increasing food production and mitigating competition for land. Our study shows that results from socioeconomic interviews and biophysical modeling of potential productivity increases offer robust insights into practical solutions on how to pursue sustainable development in one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots.

Global priority areas for amphibian research

“…Between these two extremes, there are other areas for research and with high conservation value such as the Atlantic rainforest, in Brazil. While a great portion of the Atlantic rainforest is currently covered by pasture and agriculture (Hansen et al., ), most priority research areas identified within this region are located in the Serra Do Mar forest, which is currently relatively well preserved and the focus of important conservation efforts (Alves‐Pinto et al., ; Lemes & Loyola, ; Loyola, Lemes, Brum, Provete, & Duarte, ; Zwiener et al., ).…”

The role of natural regeneration to ecosystem services provision and habitat availability: a case study in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

“…In this regard, a properly planned large‐scale restoration in the Paraitinga watershed has a high potential for avoiding this issue, since the current stocking rates of pasturelands in the region range from 0.8 to 1.4 Animal Units (AU) per hectare, while the potential stoking rate can be as high as 3.79 AU/ha (Alves‐Pinto et al . in press). Increasing productivity in the region to half of the potential would be enough to spare 76 thousand hectares of pasture area for other uses (Alves‐Pinto et al .…”

“…Increasing productivity in the region to half of the potential would be enough to spare 76 thousand hectares of pasture area for other uses (Alves‐Pinto et al . in press). This means that improvement in the cattle‐ranching practices alone could accommodate all the natural regeneration proposed in the scenario 2.…”

The emergence of the social‐ecological restoration concept

“…Conflicts and animosity against restoration programs are not new, and it is one of the most recurrent issues (Geist & Galatowitsch ; Buckley & Crone ; Palamar ; Halme et al ; Winkel ; Druschke & Hychka ; Fox et al ; Alves‐Pinto et al ). As stated previously by Geist and Galatowitsch (), there is a need to show and implement reciprocity in restoration programs so that people's contributions to the restoration of ecosystems are inversely compensated by the contributions of ecological restoration to people, which proves extremely challenging.…”