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Toolkit: Landscape Measures Resource Center

IUCN and Ecoagriculture teams collaborated on the Uganda side of Mt. Elgon.

Keywords

livelihoods

Authors/Partners

Authors: Ecoagriculture and the Cornell University Ecoagriculture Working Group. Partners: Government of the Netherlands, PROFOR, The Nature Conservancy, The World Bank’s Development Grants Facility (DGF) and its Sustainability Network of Global Programs and Partnerhips (GPP), and TerrAfrica.

Multifunctional Agriculture and Forest Landscape Mosaics (toolkit)

Measuring Biodiversity and Forest Conservation Production and Livelihood Outcomes in Multifunctional Agriculture: Forest Landscape Mosaics

CHALLENGE

Conceptually, it is simple to evaluate and monitor the contribution of managed landscapes to wild biodiversity conservation: one would quantify the diversity, abundance, and distribution of organisms and habitats on the landscape. Operationally, however, such monitoring has proven extremely difficult, especially in the agricultural mosaic landscapes that characterize smallholder agriculture throughout major portions of the developing world.

APPROACH
 
To help with this challenge, PROFOR supported Ecoagriculture in developing methods for assessing the performance of landscape mosaics that integrate conservation, production and livelihoods goals, through research in Congo, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Honduras and Indonesia.
 
After developing a framework protocol that accommodated different methodological approaches to measure and monitor key landscape attributes common to ecoagriculture and forest landscape conservation and restoration, two complementary methodological approaches were explored in parallel:
  • mechanisms for facilitating multi-stakeholder negotiations to help diverse stakeholder groups realize a shared vision of a given landscape, and
  • an outcome measures toolkit to help multi-stakeholder groups define and measure the impacts of ecoagriculture/ forest landscape restoration on productivity, local livelihoods, institutions, and ecosystem services and biodiversity.
RESULTS
 
The resulting online toolkit was rolled out in 2008. The Landscape Measures Resource Center (LMRC) is a platform that functions as a clearing house for information and tools for stakeholders in multifunctional landscapes. The LMRC is organized around six units that frame a process for assessing the performance of integrated conservation and production landscapes:
  • Unit 1: Defining the approach
  • Unit 2: Engaging stakeholders
  • Unit 3: Creating performance goals and criteria
  • Unit 4: Choosing indicators
  • Unit 5: Establishing a baseline
  • Unit 6: Tracking change
The LMRC links elements of the landscape assessment process to a variety of tools and resources that enable the practice of landscape measurement. Case studiesillustrate the contexts in which LMRC may be a helpful resource and highlight the use of particular tools.  A glossary of key terms is also provided. The LMRC has been designed as an interactive tool – users are encouraged to give feedback and can participate in an online discussion forum.

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Author : Authors: Ecoagriculture and the Cornell University Ecoagriculture Working Group. Partners: Government of the Netherlands, PROFOR, The Nature Conservancy, The World Bank’s Development Grants Facility (DGF) and its Sustainability Network of Global Programs and Partnerhips (GPP), and TerrAfrica.
Last Updated : 05-23-2017

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