Strengthening Sustainable Landscape Approaches: Balancing Competing Land Uses for Ecosystem Conservation

15 Oct, 2024

Sustainable landscape approaches are vital for balancing human demands with the environment's limits to prevent ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. Land is primarily used for food production, climate change mitigation, and nature conservation, but these uses often compete. Damaging land jeopardises the ability to achieve these goals. Addressing agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, and poverty separately leads to conflicts over resources. A more integrated approach is needed to manage competing interests, recognize trade-offs, and address inequalities.

In alignment with this, The Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES) Project recently concluded a three-day training program on “Sustainable Landscape Approaches and Ecosystem Services” from 15-17 October in Jhansi. The event brought together 25 participants from the Forest Departments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, as well as research institutions like the Central Agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI) and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and officials from allied departments such as Irrigation, Horticulture and Agriculture.

With an overarching objective to strengthen understanding of the landscape approach, the training focused on enhancing participants' skills to implement these strategies in practice. The landscape approach aims to reconcile the growing demand for land for food production, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity conservation with the need to protect ecosystem integrity.

Balancing Competing Land Uses

Current land use strategies often pit agricultural production, climate goals, and biodiversity protection against one another. Damage to ecosystems can compromise efforts to achieve these crucial goals. The training highlighted the need to break down sectoral silos and manage agriculture, forestry, and biodiversity in an integrated manner, considering the trade-offs between different land-use priorities.

Interactive Learning and Skill Building

The sessions were highly interactive, enabling participants to identify the main socio-ecological characteristics of their respective areas, such as ecosystems, economic sectors, and key stakeholders. Discussions focused on understanding the linkages between economic activities and ecosystem services, along with assessing associated risks and opportunities.

A significant portion of the training involved practical exercises to explore how landscape approaches can be operationalised. Participants used the ‘World Café’ format to brainstorm strategies for applying these principles on the ground, identifying strengths, capacities, and actionable first steps for piloting landscape initiatives in selected areas.

Overall, the training program served as a platform for cross-sectoral dialogue, emphasising the need for collaborative approaches in addressing ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. As a way forward, the sessions equipped participants with the knowledge and tools needed to promote sustainable management of forest ecosystems and enhance their capacity to balance ecological and economic objectives.

Group photo featuring key participants of the training, Credits: Hotel Regenta Place Jhansi staff

Identifying key stakeholder groups and institutions governing the area, along with their interests and relationships, copyright: Isabel Renner

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About the project

Integrating the lessons from HP-FES, a follow-up project on ‘Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES)’ is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, State Forest Departments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and GIZ India on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It aims to strengthen forest and agroforest management to integrate the Forest Ecosystem Services approach with a focus on water availability. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de