Building a more locally responsive restoration paradigm - for multiple human and environmental goals

Associate professor and Focali member Harry Fischer, SLU, will give a presentation on emerging work that provides insights on how global efforts for forest and landscape restoration can advance multiple human and environmental goals, and the role of research to support better policy interventions. Read more in Harry Fischers abstract below and at the event page. After his talk Niak Sian Koh recently a post-doc at SRC will make short reflections before we open up for a joint discussion.  

The seminar will be moderated by Focali member Maganizo Kruger Nyasulu who recently defended his PhD at SRC with Harry Fischer as the oponent. With this seminar we aim to bridge different research communities in this field and discuss implications for policy and practice at different levels as well as identify possible collaboration areas ahead.

Please sign up via this event page especially if you would like us to order a simple lunch for you. 

Presentation abstract by main speaker Harry Fischer, SLU 
Building a restoration social science for multiple human and environmental goals

Ecosystem restoration has become a key global environmental policy objective, as featured in the UN’s “Decade” of ecosystem restoration and a host of national and sub-national policy initiatives. I argue that contemporary discourses have potential to generate a fundamental shift in environmental thinking, one with deep implications for human well-being and sustainability. Nonetheless, existing policy interventions still tend to focus on measurable targets, especially large-scale tree planting, which may ultimately do little to support more sustainable land management over the long-term.

Drawing on the past eight years of my research on restoration governance in South Asia and globally, I describe why restoration planning often fails. I also highlight recent work which show how substantive, long-term influence of local rural resources users on planning & management can support positive outcomes for rural well-being, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. Overall, this work leads to fundamental questions about the governance conditions that enable diverse local actors to participate in the creation of more sustainable futures. Toward that end, I present emerging work with colleagues for the development of a “restoration social science”, and I ask how such a field could help to expand the horizon of policy action in support of multiple human and environmental goals.