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Forest
Landscape Restoration
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Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) is a key element of the IUCN Forest Conservation Programme's work. Simply put, forest landscape restoration brings people together to identify, negotiate and put in place practices that optimise the environmental, social and economic benefits of forests and trees within a broader pattern of land uses. There are many examples worldwide where degraded forests have been restored, ranging from small sites to large areas. Some have resulted from conscious intervention to achieve a certain restoration outcome while others have occurred "naturally" from the abandonment of land uses that lead to forest loss.
This section looks at some of forest landscape restoration activities that IUCN has been involved in and presents some of the key lessons that we have learnt from our experiences in this regard.
About FLR
Why FLR
Elements of FLR
Our Work in FLR
IUCN Publications and Other FLR Resources
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 Experiences
from East Africa
In East Africa, restoration is being used as a tool to
promote both livelihood security and forest conservation.
The following examples from the region make it clear that
the lessons from East Africa are pertinent for the rest of
the world.
- Tanzania: In the semi-arid
Shinyanga region over 800 villages and their inhabitants
improved their livelihoods by working in partnership with
the government to revitalise a traditional practice of
natural resource management. To date over 350,000 ha have
been restored to provide much needed forest products for
local use, including fuel and building material, food
and medicine, as well as important products to meet contingency
needs.
Download the FINAL REPORT, June 2005 (PDF, 900KB)
Nature article , Sept 2005 (PDF 230KB)
Lessons
Learned
Perhaps the most emphatic lesson
learnt from East Africa is that one does not have to wait
for more research, more analysis or more resources. Communities
and executive agencies can take action now to initiate Forest
Landscape Restoration from the ground up to provide forest
goods and services that make important contributions towards
securing rural livelihoods and reducing poverty.
There is a clear message here for
the next revision of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
(PRSPs) in these three countries, that the goods and services
provided by forests and tree-dominated landscapes need to
be incorporated into the PRSPs in a way that reflects their
importance to the lives of rural people.
Download the full document
Building
Assets for People and Nature - Experience from East Africa
(960 kb).
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