Forest restoration could benefit humans, increase biodiversity and help tackle climate change at the same time, new research suggests.
Restoring forests is often thought of in terms of ‘trade-offs’ – meaning that it is often aimed at a specific goal, such as capturing carbon, nurturing nature or supporting human livelihoods.
The new research, carried out by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford, shows that restoration plans focused on one single goal tend to fail to achieve the others.
However, ‘integrated’ plans would deliver more than 80% of the benefits in all three areas at once.
It was also found that socio-economically disadvantaged groups would benefit disproportionately from this approach.
The researchers used a framework called Nature’s Contribution to People (NCP), which emphasizes a holistic relationship between recovery and benefits to humanity, including equality.
It applied this to large parts of India and explored the benefits of natural regeneration of native forest in suitable places that are not currently forest.
“Restoration projects sometimes have a narrow focus, which can lead to compromises,” says Dr Trisha Gopalakrishna, from the University of Exeter and previously at Oxford.
‘For example, if you focus on carbon storage, you can plant certain tree species and fence off the forests to protect them.
“If you focus on biodiversity, you can manage forests for certain species, such as the emblematic Bengal tiger or the Asian elephant.
“If you focus on people’s livelihoods, you can plant species that provide housing materials and firewood for cooking.
“The philosophy you choose would determine your choices.
“Unsurprisingly, our research shows that plans that have one NCP in mind tend not to deliver on the others.
“However, we were surprised and pleased to discover that an ‘integrated’ plan can deliver all three with remarkable efficiency.”
The researchers used an optimization algorithm to generate maps of 3.88 million hectares of potential forest restoration area, avoiding areas such as grasslands and agricultural land.
The results showed that integrated forest restoration plans (targeting multiple objectives) deliver on average 83.3% of climate change mitigation NCP, 89.9% of biodiversity value NCP and 93.9% of societal NCP delivered through plans with one objective.
Commenting on why this is happening, Dr Gopalakrishna said: “Integrated plans create a multifunctional landscape, with connectivity so that people and animals can thrive.”
The findings show that 38-41% of people affected by integrated spatial plans belong to socio-economically disadvantaged groups, more than their total representation in the Indian population.
Dr. Gopalakrishna added: “Many countries, like India, have committed to very big climate and environmental goals.
“The blueprint we have developed provides an approach for designing conservation policies, especially ecosystem restoration activities.
“It would be useful to know whether our findings apply in other countries, using different types of ecosystem restoration plans and targeting different benefits.”
The research was funded by the Oxford India Center for Sustainable Development.
The article, published in the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesis entitled: “Optimizing recovery: holistic spatial planning to deliver nature’s contributions to people with minimal trade-offs and maximum equity.”
