Have integrated landscape approaches reconciled societal and environmental issues in the tropics?

Have integrated landscape approaches reconciled societal and environmental issues in the tropics?

Background

The author cite that while there has been growing recognition of intergrated landscape approaches, which aims to enhance environmental and social outcomes, there is still a lack of understanding. There has been suggestions that these approaches have been undertherorized and a lack of evidence of its effectiveness.

Goals & Methods

To address these gaps, the authors review applications of landscape approaches throughout the tropics in order to determine if these are important, novel strategies that more effectively achieve conservation and development outcomes compared to previous concepts.

Conclusions & Takeaways

Based on their review, the authors state there integrated landscape approaches do achieve significant environmental and social outcomes. Still, there is a lack of on-the-ground examples of these approaches; the study reviews many barriers that may prevent implementation. Thus, the authors suggest a continuing effort to implement, test, and evaluate the viability of integrated landscape approaches.

Reference: 

Reed J, van Vianen J, Barlow J, Sunderland T. Have integrated landscape approaches reconciled societal and environmental issues in the tropics?. Land Use Policy. 2017;63:481–492. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.02.021.

Affiliation: 

  • Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia
  • Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, UK
  • Center for Tropical Environmental and Sustainable Science, School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Australia