Conservation Biology
Group
Restoration Governance for equity
Designing and implementing restoration governance for environmental justice
Overview
In response to ongoing biodiversity loss, degradation and climate change, the restoration of ecosystems has become a global priority. However, despite increasing international attention, there is little knowledge on the ecological, social and socio-ecological consequences of restoration measures. The goal is to apply a social-ecological systems perspective to better understand mechanisms that lead to different outcomes in ecosystem restoration.
Duration
01.05.2023 - 30.04.27
Project location
Rwanda
Ongoing
more Information
Examining environmental justice in the context of ecosystem restoration measures is relevant to ensure compatibility with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This is particularly important for countries in the Global South, where colonial path dependencies and power imbalances influence socio-ecological interactions. While aspects of distributive justice of the benefits generated by restoration interventions are increasingly included in decision-making, a systemic and mechanistic understanding of the relationship between multi-level governance of ecosystem restoration, environmental justice and the sustainability of restoration interventions is still lacking.
Focus of research
Analysing the formal and informal governing institutions through twelve selected case studies in Rwanda.
Which different governance profiles enable the integration of environmental justice?
Analysing
1
Understanding the influence of power structures and processes on the effectiveness of governance in restoration interventions will be developed.
Understanding
3
Exploring how people involved in and affected by restoration interventions perceive the consideration of the different environmental justice dimensions. To what exten influences this their attitudes towards the effectiveness of restoration?
Exploring
2
Insights from that investigations will culminate in a synthesis work, in which we will relate the different context-specific restoration governance settings to multi-faceted social-ecological restoration outcomes.
Final
4
Founded by..
With contribution from..
A social-ecological systems approach to inform ecosystem restoration in rural Africa
The research unit will approach ecosystem restoration from a social-ecological systems perspective to better understand the mechanism involved in generating different restoration outcomes. It will focus on western Rwanda because if Rwanda's role as a global restoration leader. The overarching goal of the research unit is to develop a social-ecological systems approach to ecosystems restoration.
Research is structured in eight interconnected sub-projects that are organised in an ecological, a social, a social-ecological and an integration cluster consisting of two sub-projects each.
Subproject of FOR 5501
Who is involved?
The project brings together a divers team of international researchers from a wide range of backgrounds.