Presented by Terry Sunderland

1. THINKING beyond the canopy
THINKING beyond the canopy
Information needs for assessing and
analysing landscape-scale contexts:
Experiences from research projects
Terry C.H. Sunderland and Jean-Laurent Pfund
DIVERSITAS Symposium:
Research for adaptive management of biodiversity rich tropical landscape mosaics
Cape Town, South Africa
15th
October 2009

2. THINKING beyond the canopy
Why ‘landscapes’?
• Forests support ca. 65% of worlds terrestrial taxa, hence are
important focus for conservation
• Traditional emphasis has been on protected areas & reserves
• However ca. 92% of world’s forests remain OUTSIDE PA’s
• Hence considerable potential biodiversity in commodity and
production forests
• “Landscape approach” has become increasingly important

3. THINKING beyond the canopy
Shooting in the dark..?
• Large body of literature on landscape approaches but little
consensus on applicability
• General principles and broad considerations have been
largely missing
• However, need to avoid “one size fits all” approach
• Complex landscapes; complex challenges

4. THINKING beyond the canopy
Core challenge: different sites, different issues

5. THINKING beyond the canopy
What data do we need for landscape-scale
conservation and development initiatives?
• Complexity of real “landscapes”: needs of inter-/ trans-
disciplinary studies
• Different types of inter-disciplinary information (biophysical,
temporal demographic, spatial elements, socio-economic,
political)
• … Is it possible to distinguish a critical set of information to
assess, plan for action and then monitor conservation and
development trends at landscape scale?

6. THINKING beyond the canopy
Learning from recent CIFOR projects
• ICDP/landscape analysis: gathering data on past
experiences to define lessons learned
• Landscape Mosaics: gathering data in order to inform
land use planning and integrating C & D processes
• Landscape-scale livelihood monitoring: defining datasets
for monitoring livelihood conditions (PEN)
• New tools and innovations (STELLA modelling)
• Monitoring (land cover, livelihoods)

7. THINKING beyond the canopy
Landscape scale ICDPs: Evaluation from
the Lower Mekong Region
• Conservation organisations:
• Difficulty justifying protectionist approaches
• Introduced Integrated Conservation and Development
Projects (ICDPs) in the late 1980s (globally)
• Previous studies of these missed the “landscape” context
• Very little critical analysis of ICDPs in the Lower Mekong
• What strategies have contributed to the achievements of
landscape scale integrated conservation and development
projects in the Lower Mekong countries?
• Compared the strategies of projects
• Analysed the context of the projects
• Analysed the contributing factors to project outcomes

8. THINKING beyond the canopy
Study Area
• The Lower Mekong – global
biodiversity hotspot
• Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam:
• Conserved forested
landscapes
• 10 000 ha or more
• 15 sites
• ICDP comparison
• 2 sites
• Landscape trends
• Local livelihoods
• Conservation scenarios,
visioning and modelling

9. THINKING beyond the canopy
Methods: Multi-variate analysis
• Development of variables
• Participatory workshops: Cambodia,Vietnam & Laos
• Progressive development during data collection
• Currently 185 variables but only used ca. 60 for analysis

10. THINKING beyond the canopy
Variables: Landscape context
Environmental setting
Geophysical features of entire site
Biological features of conserved area
Land cover / use of entire site
Threats to conserved area
Socio-economic conditions
Demography and Living Conditions
Socio-cultural setting
Livelihoods
Infrastructure
Policy and institutional framework
Laws and regulations
Participatory processes
Social organization

11. THINKING beyond the canopy
Variables: project characteristics
“Primary” project characteristics
Characteristics
Implementation
Programme activities
Collaboration
Outcomes
Outputs
“Secondary” project
characteristics
Features
Programme activities
Collaboration
Outcomes

12. THINKING beyond the canopy
Conservation vs. development in Lower
Mekong landscapes
• Development index is higher in Vietnam; forest use more
extensive in Laos
• Trade-offs between development and conservation
• People shift from using forest resources to other activities,
such as agriculture and wage income which often results in
increased environmental degradation
• Project approaches either separate or attempt to integrate
conservation with development (but only as an “entry point”)
• High population, high agriculture, people rely less on forest
resources hence conservation challenging
• Larger areas, low populations, greater reliance on forest,
people have connections to the forest, better conservation
outcomes
• Almost no long term monitoring at any site!!

13. THINKING beyond the canopy
Landscape Mosaics project
• Four main domains identified for guiding landscape
management: land cover patterns and processes,
livelihood trends, governance and compensations
for environmental services
• Importance of:
• Economic data (household incomes, returns to
land and labour, market chains)
• Spatial data (time series, land uses, boundaries)
• Politics (stakeholder- social network analyses)
• Linkages between ecosystem services and land
cover patterns

14. THINKING beyond the canopy
5 sites (and some partner sites)
LaosCameroon
Landscape Mosaics sites
IndonesiaMadagascarTanzania

15. THINKING beyond the canopy
Landscape assessment for development
• Collecting economic data at
various levels engaging
most stakeholders
• Spatial data: administrative
boundaries, land cover
change and current land
uses
• “Governance landscape”
including local (traditional)
institutions
• Focus on selected
ecosystem services and
agricultural productivity

16. THINKING beyond the canopy
Preliminary observations from LM sites
• Governance and land use planning remain weak especially without
project/NGO-led interventions
• LUP discussions can benefit from simple collaborative/planning tools
(e.g. visioning exercises)
• Still few compensations/incentives for conservation, but interest in
certification and REDD
• Past trends in terms of forest/tree cover: eradication of forest patches,
monocultures preferred to agroforests…
• How to achieve sustainability when donor driven??

17. THINKING beyond the canopy
Poverty and Environment Network (PEN)
• 36 PhD students in 26 countries collecting extensive
household data across the tropics using standardised
approach
• Early analysis shows importance of forests in landscapes…

18. THINKING beyond the canopy
Income sources

19. THINKING beyond the canopy
Importance of forests for local livelihoods

20. THINKING beyond the canopy
Monitoring…. How are we doing?
20051990’s

21. THINKING beyond the canopy
Livelihood monitoring
• Participatory indicator definition (sustainable livelihoods
approach)
• Classical livelihood issues across various sites, limited
amount of information and support: education, health,
agricultural extension, accessibility vs transportation
means
Track change Cameroon
1
2
3
4
5
Acquis naturels locaux
Acquis naturels globaux
Aquis sociauxAcquis humains
Acquis physiques, construits

22. THINKING beyond the canopy
Integrating new tools and approaches

23. THINKING beyond the canopy
The potential of a solid block of comparable
landscape-scale assessment data
• Interests of decision makers (easier regional planning)
• Conditions for scientific cross-site comparisons
• Potential for defining research gaps
• … But will in any case have to be linked to research and
problem-driven research questions!

24. THINKING beyond the canopy
The “Ten Commandments”..?

25. THINKING beyond the canopy
1. Need for multiple, interdisciplinary approaches
2. People are integral: understand livelihood strategies (rights-
based approaches?)
3. Adaptive management (watch, learn & adapt)
4. Innovative tools for visioning and scenario building
5. Tenure, governance & local institutions: need for clarity
6. New skills needed for forestry professionals
7. Science should support management: “bridge the gap”
8. “Soft side” more important: be inclusive
9. Monitoring to evaluate performance is critical
10. “Win-win” situations remain rare; hence trade-offs (or
societal choices?) need to be recognised
Ten “tenets” of good practice
underpinning landscape approaches

26. THINKING beyond the canopy
Getting the message out…

27. THINKING beyond the canopy
THINKING beyond the canopy
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
is one of the 15 centres supported by the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
Thank you! www.cifor.cgiar.org