ABSTRACT
This chapter examines integrated land use approaches for forest landscape restoration (FLR), with an emphasis on the tropics, where agricultural production often occurs within complex land use mosaics, and where integrated approaches have demonstrated the potential to address drivers of land use change and restore tropical landscapes for forest ecological and rural livelihoods outcomes. The case study of the Putumayo in post-conflict Colombia considers how agroecological and Amazonian-based farming practices can contribute to the restoration of the productive, ecological, social and political fabric of landscapes degraded by conflict and inappropriate agricultural development models that have ruptured these relationships. It highlights the conflict between centrally designed land use policies that undermine the traditions and knowledge of rural communities, and traditional farmer practices that promoted forest restoration and natural regeneration. There is an opportunity to support local practices that combine multiple objectives, such as food production and biodiversity conservation, through FLR approaches, provided that they incorporate local knowledge, needs and opportunities while safeguarding against measures that exacerbate inequalities and promote land use practices that have negative ecological impacts.
