Author IUCN

Year of publication 2018

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is the ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes. FLR is more than just planting trees – it is restoring a whole landscape to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time. It is about: • Forests: it involves increasing the number and/or health of trees in an area; • Landscapes: it involves entire watersheds, jurisdictions, or even countries in which many land uses interact; • Restoration: it involves bringing back the biological productivity of an area It is long-term because it requires a multi-year vision of the ecological functions and benefits to human well-being that restoration will produce. Successful FLR is forward-looking and dynamic, focussing on strengthening the resilience of landscapes and creating future options to adjust and further optimise ecosystem goods and services as societal needs change or new challenges arise. It integrates a number of guiding principles, including: Focus on landscapes, Maintain and enhance natural ecosystems within landscapes, Engage stakeholders and support participatory governance, Tailor to the local context using a variety of approaches, Restore multiple functions for multiple benefits, Manage adaptively for long-term resilience