Presentation by James Reed, Josh van Vianen, Jos Barlow, Terry Sunderland, CIFOR, at the Global Landscapes Forum on 16 November 2016 in Marrakesh, Morocco.

1. A rose by any other name? Evaluating integrated
landscape approaches in the tropics
James Reed, Josh van Vianen, Jos Barlow, Terry Sunderland
Global Landscapes Forum, Marrakesh, 16th November 2016

2. What are landscape approaches
and how effectively have they been implemented in the tropics?

3. Landscape approaches are the latest in an evolution of
integrated attempts to reconcile C&D.
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010 -
present
1980s: Integrated
Rural Development 1998: Integrated
Natural Resource
Management (INRM)
1985 onwards:
Integrated
Conservation &
Development projects
(ICDPs)
Contributing Sciences:
Ecosystem
Management
Landscape Ecology
Island biogeography
Conservation rooted
frameworks e.g.
“Ecosystem Approach”
1992: “Landscape Approach” first
documented (Barrett 1992)
(Integrated) Landscape
Approach frameworks

4. Key findings from the “theory” literature
Optimizing adoption of landscape approaches:
• evaluating progress within a landscape is fundamental to
determining where gains or losses are being made
• hybrid, multi-level and cross-sectoral governance structures
that integrate internal traditional knowledge and external
institutional and financial support are increasingly preferable
• must acknowledge the need for contextualisation and not
subscribe to panaceas
• inclusive, participatory stakeholder negotiation can help
align local socio-cultural and global environmental concerns
• should recognise dynamic processes and perverse outcomes
See: Reed et al. 2016 - Integrated landscape approaches to managing social
and environmental issues in the tropics: learning from the past to guide the
future

5. Geographic distribution of landscape approaches
1 (5 countries represented)
2 (1)
3 (2)
4 (1)

6. Geographic distribution (grey literature)

7. Quality of the evidence
Peer reviewed
articles
Grey literature
(web screening)
Grey literature
(document
screening)
Totals
Number of case
studies
24 97 53 174
Number
reported
success
13 (54%) 46 (47%) 20 (38%) 79 (45%)
Reliable data
provided
6 (46%) 8 (17%) 1 (5%) 15 (19%)

8. Environmental and socio-economic impacts

9. Factors influencing “success”

10. Influence of governance structure

11. Key findings from the literature
Current barriers to effective implementation:
• the ongoing development of theory and conceptualization
may be stimulating time lags
• the proliferation of terms associated with landscape
approaches may be impeding policy and practice progress
• operating silos persist at all levels and scales
• engaging multiple stakeholders is all too often seen as
a box-ticking exercise to satisfy project requirements
• monitoring remains the least well developed area of
landscape approach application

12. Conclusions and recommendations
 Landscape approaches remain contentious and under-
theorized
 There is good evidence of “landscape approaches” being
implemented within the tropics but weak evidence of
effectiveness
 Multi-level engagement seems fundamental to success
 Attempts to implement must be contextualized and willing to
embrace complexity
 Metrics need to continue to develop

13. Future outputs and research opportunities
 A toolkit for landscape approach implementation
 A synthesis of landscape approach frameworks
 Analysis of stakeholder perceptions in a landscape approach
 Evaluation of landscape approach in practice
 Assessment of landscape approach investments

14. Thanks for listening!
For further information:
James Reed: j.reed@cgiar.org
Terry Sunderland: t.sunderland@cgiar.org