Restoration in Rwanda
Landscape context – landscape-scale restoration dynamics in western Rwanda
Project Summary
Ecosystem restoration has become a global priority to combat land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change. Numerous global initiatives seek to advance ecosystem restoration (e.g., the “Bonn Challenge” aims to restore 350 million ha of land by 2030). Yet, the ecological, social, and interlinked social-ecological consequences of major restoration initiatives remain poorly understood.
The overarching goal of the research unit is to develop a social-ecological systems approach specifically for the context of ecosystem restoration. It will generate fundamental insights into under-recognized connections between ecological and social facets of restoration, with far-reaching implications for restoration theory and practice.
The research unit will bring together researchers from a broad range of backgrounds as well as experience in inter- and transdisciplinary integration of knowledge.
The research unit focuses on Rwanda, a world leader in ecosystem restoration and the first African country to commit to the Bonn Challenge, pledging to restore 2 Mha of degraded systems by 2030.
Within the research unit, we examine within sub-project 2 (SP2) spatiotemporal dynamics of restoration-related landscape change at the country level and assess outcomes for ecosystem productivity and biodiversity.
Funding
Project Lead
Leuphana University Lüneburg
Duration
01.05.23 - 30.04.27
Contact
Matthias Baumann
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