Biodiversity Conservation

We work with the objective of contributing to the biodiversity conservation in environmental, social and economic aspects.

Climate change

We support decision makers in the climate agenda focused on ecosystem conservation and restoration projects and biodiversity.

Ecosystem restoration

The approaches developed by IIS aim to assist the planning and implementation of vegetation recovery projects, exploring synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and costs, under a variety of scenarios.

Sustainable development

We seek to promote the transition to sustainability, contributing to the balance between socioeconomic development, biodiversity conservation and rational use of natural resources.

Sustainable Land Use

We promote the transition from the traditional agricultural practices to a more sustainable land management, helping to mitigate climate change and guaranteeing the future of the next generations.

Economic Analysis

We seek to strengthen and defend the basic principles of balance between the economy and the environment, favoring research, planning and management in public and private fields, linked to the relationship between ecological, social and economic systems, in order to improve social well-being.

Policies

We assist in the formulation of policies aimed at sustainability, as well as the implementation of practical actions, working in partnership with public sector bodies and other organizations.

Spatial intelligence

Through landscape modeling and monitoring, we identify the patterns and trends of social and ecological systems, supporting decision makers through quantitative statistics and mapped scenarios.

Publications > Article

Share

Fostering natural forest regeneration on former agricultural land through economic and policy interventions

Under suitable conditions, deforested land used for agricultural crops or pastures can revert to forest through the assisted or unassisted process of natural regeneration. These naturally regenerating forests conserve biodiversity, provide a wide array of ecosystem goods and services, and support rural economies and livelihoods.

Based on studies in tropical and temperate forest ecosystems, we summarize cases where natural regeneration is occurring in agricultural landscapes around the world and identify the socio-ecological factors that favor its development and affect its qualities, outcomes and persistence.

We describe how the economic and policy context creates barriers for the development, persistence, and management of naturally regenerating forests, including perverse outcomes of policies intended to enhance protection of native forests. We conclude with recommendations for specific economic and policy interventions at local, national, and global scales to enhance forest natural regeneration and to promote the sustainable management of regrowth forests on former agricultural land while strengthening rural communities and economies.

Related Themes