Forest Landscape Restoration
REGAINING ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS AND ENHANCING WELL-BEING..
Sansar Green’s Forest landscape restoration program is the ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality & enhancing human well being across Mined, Deforested or Degraded forests. We do more than just planting trees. We are in restoring the whole landscape to meet present & future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time.
Sansar Green’s Forest landscape restoration program manifests through different processes such as: new tree plantings, managed natural regeneration, agroforestry, improved land management to accommodate a mosaic of land uses, protected wildlife reserves, managed plantations, riverside plantings and many more.
Sansar Green collaborates with various forest experts to gather knowledge, develop and apply tools, and build capacity, We have also developed a proven Restoration Opportunities Methodology Assessment with practical steps for diverse stakeholders to restore landscapes at any scale.
Our guiding principles:
- Focus on landscapes. Sansar Green restores entire landscapes, not individual sites. Restoration typically entails balancing across the landscape a mosaic of interdependent land uses—such as protected forest areas, ecological corridors, regenerating forests, other natural ecosystems, agroforestry systems, improved fallow systems, well managed plantations, and riparian strips—to meet a variety of human needs.
- Restore ecological functionality. Sansar Green restores the ecological functionality of the landscape, such as its richness as a habitat, its ability to contain erosion and floods, and its resilience to climate change and various disturbances. This can be done in many ways, one of which is to restore the landscape toward the pre-human disturbance or “original” vegetation, but other strategies may also be used.
- Allow for multiple benefits. Sansar Green generates a suite of ecosystem goods and services with intelligently and appropriately increasing tree cover across the landscape. In some places, trees are added to agricultural lands without forming a forest canopy in order to enhance food production, reduce erosion, provide shade, and produce firewood. In other places, trees are added to create a closed canopy forest capable of sequestering large amounts of carbon, protecting downstream water supplies, and providing rich wildlife habitat.
- Recognise that a suite of interventions are possible. Sansar Green embraces a wide range of strategies for restoring trees on the landscape. For instance, some strategies make way for “nature to take its course” (e.g., curtailing livestock grazing to allow trees to spontaneously regrow), while others involve very active human intervention (e.g., tree planting).
- Involve stakeholders. Sansar Green actively engages local stakeholders — including landowners, land managers, communities, civil society, governments, and the private sector—in decisions regarding restoration goals, implementation methods, and trade-offs. It is important that the restoration process respects local stakeholders’ rights, aligns with their land management needs, and provides them with benefits. Active, voluntary involvement of local stakeholders can lead to better buy-in, greater access to local knowledge, motivated land managers, and less need for external resources.
- Tailor to local conditions. Sansar Green adapts to fit local social, economic, and ecological contexts; there is no “one size fits all.”
- Manage adaptively. Sansar Green adjusts restoration strategies over time as environmental conditions, human knowledge, and societal values change. It leverages continuous monitoring and learning to make adjustments as the restoration process progresses.
- Avoid conversion of natural ecosystems. Sansar Green does not call for increasing tree cover beyond what would be ecologically appropriate for a particular location, and should not cause any loss or conversion of natural forests, grasslands, or other ecosystems (e.g., into tree or crop plantations). Restoration should complement, not undermine, ecosystem conservation efforts.