Presented by Terry Sunderland on behalf of the COLANDS team (CIFOR-ICRAF) at Landscapes for our Future Summit 15th October, 2023

1. Integrated landscape approaches:
Lessons learned from COLANDS
cifor.org/colands
Terry Sunderland, on behalf of the COLANDS team
Landscapes for our Future Summit
15th October, 2023

2. 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s ------------------- present
1980s: Integrated Rural
Development
1998: Integrated Natural Resource
Management (INRM)
1985 onwards: Integrated
Conservation & Development
projects (ICDPs)
Contributing Sciences:
Ecosystem Management
Landscape Ecology
Island biogeography
Conservation rooted frameworks
e.g. “Ecosystem Approach”
1983: “Landscape Approach”
first documented (Noss, 1983) 2013 - present:
(Integrated) Landscape
Approaches
2013: “Ten Principles for a
Landscape Approach”
(Sayer et al. 2013)
The evolution of integrated (landscape) approaches
(Reed et al. 2016,
Global Ch. Biol.)

3. Operationalising landscape approaches: From theory to practice
THEORY & POLICY
PRACTICE:
Integration &
evaluation
Local stakeholders:
NGO’s; CSO’s
Local communities
Private sector
Local government
Drivers:
Researchers
Policy makers
Central government

4. The COLANDS initiative….
• Concept first submitted in May 2015
• Invited to re-submit in 2016
• Full proposal development through
2017
• Continued refinement* to June
2018 when project commenced
• Scheduled to end in June 2023 but
extension to November 2023
• Focused on landscapes in Zambia,
Ghana and Indonesia
*Delayed due to our refusal to supply a
Project Logical Framework as part of the
proposal

5. • To address gaps between strong scientific theory and weak implementation
• To facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue to benefit actors across multiple
sectors and decision-making scales
• Raise awareness of the value of biological diversity in complex landscapes to
inform national policies and global commitments
• To empower marginalized groups to effectively participate in decision-making
processes
• To test the extent to which implementation of landscape approaches can
reduce conflict between resource exploitation and other forest uses
Project objectives

6. Approach and target groups
• Approach has been “bottom up”, which
involves government, civil society and
local communities.
• The primary targets are multi-stakeholder
platforms across multiple scales, regional
to national.
• Facilitation not implementation!

7. Some lessons
learned from
our PhD
candidates

8. Theoretical perspective of legal pluralism and
polycentric governance in Indonesia: Augusta Anandi
• Social Forestry in Indonesia closely aligns
with the ten principles.
• Value the importance of local knowledge.
• Alignment of statutory and customary tenure
arrangements.
• Role of local champions should be
recognised.
• Address issues of financial insecurity and the
need for improved monitoring and
evaluation.

9. Understanding collaborative landscape governance to
inform integrated landscape approaches: Alida O’Connor
• Over 100 land use priorities identified; most
common were agriculture, trees, livestock,
water, & livelihood opportunities
• Different stakeholders exerted different types
of power to achieve shared priorities
• Collaborative processes, such as ILAs, have
potential to make power dynamics more
complimentary and equitable
• Collaboration is happening, however, to
strengthen across groups and scales, long
term support is needed

10. Towards inclusive and negotiated environmental
governance: Freddie Siangulube
“MSP design should improve linkages of
global, regional and national goals to
local objectives for inclusive decision-
making processes and ensuring
institutionalisation of policies at the local
level where impacts are felt”.

11. Emerging challenges and opportunities for
ILAs: Sam Adeyanju
• Although, ILAs are being implemented globally,
there is limitedevaluation of landscape
approaches in practice. (The LFF experience from
19 countries could help address this)
• Limited private sector engagement in ILA hinders
opportunity for capacity building and diversifying
sources of support.
• ILA Sustainability is dependent on long-term
financing and sustained multistakeholder
motivation.

12. Community engagement in landscape governance and
prospects for operationalising integrated landscape
approaches in northern Ghana; Eric Bayala
• Stakeholders perceive landscape problems
and solutions differently. Exclusion of
Fulani herdsmen extreme example.
• Conflicting relationships, power imbalances,
and weak governance capacity hinder
inclusive landscape governance.
• Knowledge, culture, and power inequities
influence trade-off negotiations and
consensus-building: inclusive platforms for
multistakeholder processes are necessary
to bring actors to a common vision.

13. How can local knowledge contribute to the implementation of
ILAs in Kalomo district, Zambia? Malaika Yanou
• Local knowledge is central to land use and
conservation goals
• Documentation valuing Indigenous and local
knowledge, addressing power relations is needed
• Further research is required for insights into how the
hybridisation of local and external knowledge and
ethics can be effectively and equitably integrated into
ILAs
• MSPs demonstrate potential for interaction amongst
various knowledge systems, but better strategies are
needed for more equitable and collaborative
processes to foster their influence on policymaking.

14. Need to move from “project” to “process”
Natural
Science Social
Science
Borgstrom 2019: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-018-01142-1

15. Summary of lessons learned:
• Short-term nature of project cycles not appropriate at the landscape scale
• Related to this, external finance needed to support MSP’s
• Local knowledge should be integrated into management strategies
• Need to link the national with the local in terms of policy adherence
• Recognise differing land tenure arrangements (customary vs statutory)
• Understand power relations
• Engage private sector
• MSP’s important to negotiate shared vision and trade-offs
• Facilitation not implementation!

16. Thank you
This project is working with CIFOR, the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) and other partners to
conduct innovative research related to landscapes, including forestry and other productive
processes; as well as the essential work of engaging multiple stakeholders
www.cifor.org/colands
terry.sunderland@ubc.ca