A partnership network which aims to find a balance between forest conservation and reforestation, and the need for social and economic development, is the subject of a post on the blog of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature initiative.

The future viability of tropical forests relies on protecting remaining old-growth forest areas and in reforestation. The latter can be achieved by re-establishing forest cover through natural regeneration, active forest restoration, agroforestry or forest plantations.

Professor Robin Chazdon from the University of Connecticut outlines how reforestation can rehabilitate impoverished soils, prevent erosion, store carbon and provide timber and non-timber products, while protecting biodiversity. But, although there have been strong commitments made to reforestation, targets are not being met.

“Forest restoration projects often fail to incorporate socioeconomic issues,” explains Chazdon, while social science research places little emphasis on important ecological characteristics. What is needed is “an integrated framework for understanding reforestation in the tropics”. This would consider how factors such as species composition, ecosystem services, and support for rural livelihoods all change when new types of forest cover replace former old-growth forests.

PARTNERS (People and Reforestation in the Tropics: a Network for Education, Research, and Synthesis) has therefore been established to create linkages among organizations with broad policy interests and a history of engagement in reforestation, conservation, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development in the tropics.

PARTNERS focuses on 4 main themes: motivating the production of scholarly documents, educational modules, case studies, and policy briefs by working groups. It brings together anthropologists, economists, forest ecologists, foresters, geographers, landscape ecologists, political scientists, sociologists, and wildlife biologists from around the world.

Read the full story: PARTNERS: Building a Socio-Ecological Understanding of Reforestation in the Tropics