Principles and Practice of Forest Landscape Restoration: Case Studies from the Drylands of Latin America

background

Dryland forests cover nearly 30% of the surface of the earth and are of global importance for biodiversity and human livelihoods.Many dryland forest ecosystems have been destroyed or highly degraded due to unsustainable land-use practices, including livestock ranging, overharvesting, conversion to agriculture, and rapid urban growth. This document provides the results of a study evaluating the application of forest landscape restoration to dryland ecosystems in Latin America.

Conclusions & Takeaways

Seven dryland areas were evaluated in Mexico and South America and results are discussed in  11 chapters. Themes include assessing the current extent and recent loss of dryland forest ecosystems, fragmentation and degradation, fragmentation and altitudinal effects on tree diversity, socioeconomic valuation of dryland forest resources and landscape-scale dynamics and restoration of dryland forest ecosystems, among others.