Upscaling ANR
All successful forest restoration and forest management initiatives begin by developing a shared vision among key stakeholders and local people of the objectives for restoration and land-use management. If that vision includes a strong desire and appreciation for enhancing the ecological functions of forests along with generating diverse economic benefits, there will often be excellent prospects for integrating ANR into resource management. ANR is particularly promising with respect to costs, with ANR approaches typically requiring less than half the investment required for conventional reforestation.
ANR must be seen as one approach among various options available to support forest restoration and management. Past experience has demonstrated that ANR practices fit well with current principles underpinning landscape approaches to resource management. Various elements of ANR can be applied in different areas of typical landscape mosaics, such as enhancing regeneration of preferred species in degraded forests, improving agricultural vitality and yields through farmer-managed natural regeneration, and restoring highly degraded sites at relatively low cost.
Naturally regenerated forest in a landscape mosaic. ©FAO/Kenichi Shono.
Experiences from ANR efforts around the world indicate that many of the requisites for successful ANR are identical to those needed for successful conventional reforestation (e.g. clear land tenure, supportive policies, benefits accruing to local stakeholders, and technical expertise). However, ANR may provide added benefits compared to conventional reforestation in terms of facilitating more species-diverse ecosystems (and consequently more diverse product lines) and regenerating sites with native species that are inherently well-adapted to local conditions at a much lower cost.
Efforts to significantly upscale ANR globally to capture these advantages may require changes of mindsets, policies and practices. Greater awareness of ANR’s potential needs to be built among policy makers, extensionists, resource managers and the general public, to recognize that forests can indeed be regenerated naturally without always resorting to planting trees. In many instances, new policies are needed to provide the enabling conditions for widespread application of ANR under various bio-physical and socio-cultural conditions. Effective monitoring of natural regeneration and provision of rewards and remuneration for successful ANR application are also needed. Finally – given the necessity of engagement and support of local stakeholders to achieve successful restoration and forest management – there is a critical need for creative field facilitators who are capable of working with multiple sectors and diverse political elements to motivate and support effective ANR across the full range of landscape settings.