Balancing land sharing and sparing approaches to promote forest and landscape restoration in agricultural landscapes: Land approaches for forest landscape restoration

Abstract

Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) could benefit from the land sharing/sparing approaches to support decisions. We discuss four questions potentially shaping FLR outcomes in agricultural landscapes in the context of land sharing/sparing decisions: (1) Which are the main focuses of restorative interventions?; (2) Which kind of restored forests should these interventions target?; (3) Which restorative interventions should be implemented and where?; and (4) What are the major factors influencing restoration outcomes? Some restorative interventions embraced by FLR may compete with specific land uses and thus require careful planning to minimize trade-offs and maximize synergies. Decision making on the restorative intervention combination needs considering the spatial distribution and configuration of the final land uses in the landscape together with its social context and a multi-stakeholder process. Ultimately, finding the right balance between land sharing/sparing approaches will also require navigating governance issues that regulate FLR implementation.