Taking Tree-based Ecosystem Approaches to Scale

Overview

Tree-Based Ecosystem Approaches (TBEAs) include a variety of land and forestry management systems and practices that combine trees with agricultural production, in pursuit of sustained or increased productivity, enhanced ecosystem services supply, and a stronger adaptive capacity for land managers. Significant potential benefits for economic development, poverty reduction and climate resilience have inspired growing interest and investment in TBEAs by national governments and their development partners who are eager to understand where and how TBEA benefits can be realized at scale.

We recommend five specific areas of action for additional assessment activities:

1. Development of a shared conceptual framework and assessment strategy for TBEAs to inform cross-site comparative analysis;
2. Spatial analyses to determine the actual geographic distribution of TBEAs around the world and in individual countries;
3. Comprehensive case studies of TBEA practices, scaling up processes, and dynamics at landscape scale;
4. Organization of action research across landscapes where different TBEA interventions are being implemented to better understand how socio-ecological conditions, external interventions, and local institutions (and their interactions) influence TBEA implementation at scale; and
5. More in-depth analysis of existing literature, through qualitative assessment of scaling up processes and dynamics; expansion of literature review to include studies of ecosystem services and biodiversity impacts; inclusion of studies produced in other languages; and meta-analysis of the comparative quantitative evidence in existing studies.