The restoration of landscapes and its multiple benefits for communities must be designed to contribute to sustainability and human well-being in the long term, rather than just providing temporary solutions that will be lost once specific activities end. This is what the sixth and final principle of FLR aims to address: 'Manage adaptively for long-term resilience,' which emphasizes how the management of restored areas must incorporate continuous learning to ensure that actions within restored ecosystems continue to yield lasting results.
To support this principle, the continuous learning and updating of technologies are essential to address challenges. It is always necessary to evaluate whether the actions taken are still producing results or whether they need to be adjusted to ensure greater benefits.
FLR seeks to enhance the resilience of both the landscape and its stakeholders over the medium and long term. Restoration approaches should increase species and genetic diversity and be adapted over time to reflect changes in climate and other environmental conditions, as well as evolving knowledge, capacities, stakeholder needs, and societal values. As restoration progresses, information from monitoring activities, research, and stakeholder input should be integrated into management plans.
In other words, principles such as flexibility, long-term objectives, and the use of new ideas are always encouraged in FLR.
Adriana Vidal, from IUCN, discusses the work of The Restoration Initiative regarding this diversity of techniques and actions: 'With innovative restoration techniques informed by traditional knowledge and science, The Restoration Initiative aims to improve ecosystem services and biodiversity, prioritizing the connectivity and integrity of ecosystems and ensuring that restored areas contribute to larger ecological networks. TRI’s achievements are intended to inform future restoration programs,' she observes."
Principles
GPFLR identified six principles to promote global guidance on restoration:
1) Focus on landscapes
2) Engage stakeholders and support participatory governance
3) Restore multiple functions for multiple benefits
4) Maintain and enhance natural forest ecosystems within landscapes
5) Tailor to the local context
6) Manage adaptively for long-term resilience.
We asked partners how they see the principles and what their organizations are doing in this regard. In the coming weeks, leading up to COP 16, we will publish viewpoints of our GPFLR partners. Read the last article, about how using different approaches is essential to help communities on landscape restoration.
