The ‘Integrated Landscape Approach’ provides a basic framework for balancing competing demands and integrating policies for multiple land uses within a given area. However, attempts to formalize and characterize what the landscape approach actually represents have resulted in a plethora of interlinked terminology and re-invention of ideas and practices under multiple guises. The current study aims to map the development of the landscape approach; synthesize existing definitions and conceptual frameworks; and identify where and how these initiatives have been implemented in practice.