Location: University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry, Room 1005

Event description

Sectorial approaches to land management have proved to be inefficient in combating persistent global challenges of biodiversity loss, food insecurity, climate change, and political and socio-economic inequality. Landscape-scale interventions have been identified as a means to manage trade-offs between conflicting land uses and capitalize on areas where synergies exist and provide a potential mechanism for addressing such local-national-global challenges. Six years on from the first Global Landscape Forum held in Warsaw, Poland, the term “landscape approaches” has now become integral to the development lexicon. Governments, the private sector, indigenous groups, conservation actors and the development community explicitly recognise the importance of working at the scale of the broader landscape, aimed at integrating differing and often competing land uses to ensure both environmental sustainability and continued human well-being. However, despite increasing traction of the landscape approach, the formal implementation, and more importantly, evaluation of landscape approaches on the ground has proved elusive. This, however, does not mean that landscape-scale interventions are not happening but may be a reflection of such initiatives not being widely reported in the popular and scientific literature.

This event will address this shortfall with a range of panellists representing academia, the private sector, indigenous and youth groups. From these diverse perspectives, panellists will discuss the perils, pitfalls and potential of landscape approaches and how they relate to rights, access, tensions between biodiversity conservation, economic development, and food security. Are landscape approaches a new sustainable development paradigm or merely “old wine in new bottles?” What experience can the panel share on successful (and less successful) examples of landscape-scale interventions? What does it take to implement landscape approaches in terms of institutional and governance arrangements? How do we achieve sustainable landscapes while recognising the need to feed a growing population that demands more from their resources?

With explicit engagement with a live and virtual audience, we will also try and answer the questions related to successful landscape-scale interventions and address the shortfalls between current rhetoric surrounding landscape approaches and the reality on the ground.

Format

Brief introduction to the event by moderator, followed by a short film: https://www.cifor.org/youtube/a-landscape-approach-what-where-and-how/ (20 mins)

Short (5-7 minute) introduction by each panellist prompted by questions from moderator. (25-30 mins)

Questions from the audience and on-line participants. Panellists respond. (30 mins)

Discussion and wrap up. (30 mins)

Participants

• Terry Sunderland, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia and Senior Associate, Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) – moderator
• Gabrielle Kissinger, Lexeme Consulting, Vancouver
• Charles Menzies, Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia
• Navin Ramunkutty, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia
• Roopa Davé, KPMG, Vancouver – not yet confirmed
• Intu Boedhihartono, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia and Tanah Air Beta, Indonesia
• Sam Adeyanju, Graduate Student, Faculty of Forestry, UBC and Founder and International Director at Pace Impact Initiative