Toward a social-ecological forest landscape restoration assessment framework: a review

Abstract The urgency to restore landscapes to counteract deforestation, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss has resulted in a global commitment to landscape restoration. Many frameworks and tools have emerged for the design and implementation of restoration activities. The frameworks tend to focus on selected dimensions of sustainability, with the majority focusing on the ecological. Current frameworks miss a balanced assessment of (planned) interventions taking into account also the social dimension relating to participation and ownership as well as improvement of livelihoods. The objective of this review is to assess current frameworks for identification of strength and weaknesses and to derive an integrated Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) assessment framework model that shall help overcome current limitations. Applying systematic literature review, a total of 22 frameworks are selected and analyzed in-depth applying qualitative content analysis. Our review finds that frameworks vary with respect to their focus and restoration objectives. They also differ in relation to spatial and temporal scale, degree of stakeholder participation, consideration of ecological and social dimensions, monitoring and evaluation approaches, as well as provisions for exit strategies. Findings are summarized in form of an integrated FLR assessment framework, comprising six interlinked components: stakeholder participation, customization, time and scale of application, social-ecological balance, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and exit strategy. The proposed framework facilitates design and implementation of context specific interventions, balancing the nexus of social and ecological dimensions of FLR and acknowledges the need to also include reflection on learnings and planning of an exit strategy for long-term success. Graphical Abstract