Forest related nature-based approaches : Review of terms and concepts – from afforestation to forest landscape restoration

Report to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection (BMUV)

Wien

2023

54 S.

zahlr. Lit. Ang.

Bandaufführung

978-3-903345-19-5

13902

40004008

This report seeks to clarify how seven common terms and concepts are used in the scientific literature, namely "Nature Based Solution, Ecosystem Based Adaptation, Integrated Landscape Management, Forest Restoration, Forest Landscape Restoration, Afforestation and Rewilding", and how to use them more effectively to support forest landscape restoration implementation. Nature-based concepts have been embraced by different scientific disciplines and operationalized by practitioners in different ecological, social and historic contexts. Rewilding and Forest Landscape Restoration originated in the academic world and were embraced by policy organizations and popularized by NGOs; other terms, such as Ecosystem-Based Adaptation and Nature-Based Solutions, followed the opposite path, from the policy vernacular to the scientific. Landscapes dominated by forests are often embedded with other land uses and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by providing multiple ecosystem services. Especially for rural populations, forest landscapes are often the basis for the local economy and social identity. However, forest landscapes are under pressure from the loss and degradation of forest and conversion to other land uses, as well as the impacts of climate change. Therefore, combined strategies for forest landscape preservation, restoration, and adaptive management are needed to prevent significant losses of forest landscape ecosystems and their benefits. This activity, coordinated by IUFRO's Special Programme for Development of Capacities (IUFRO-SPDC), was conducted in collaboration with the IUFRO Task Force 'Transforming Forest Landscapes for Future Climates and Human Well-being'. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) financed the research, which was published with funding from the Republic of Korea's National Institute of Forest Science.