The goal of this research activity is to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity through generation and diffusion of improved knowledge about biodiversity in forested rural landscape mosaics. The research has objectives of:

1. Promoting the integration of biodiversity conservation into improved land use guidelines and management practices for managed natural forests and forest plantations in multifunctional landscapes.
2. Contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity through the collection and use of better information regarding biodiversity in landscape mosaics for problem diagnosis, priority setting and decision making.

The target ecoregions of this research are Central America, West Africa and East and Southeast Asia.

A. Developing Tools and Strategies to Integrate Biodiversity Conservation into Management Practices at Landscape Level

The project develops pragmatic approaches to help managers plan and implement more ‘biodiversity-friendly’ land use guidelines and management activities. By developing and testing tools to produce and evaluate land use management options, the research will help select preferred scenarios and generate procedures that managers and other stakeholders can use under local conditions. In selected landscapes of South-East Asia and Africa, research brings detailed findings on the way to assess and promote biodiversity conservation in mosaic landscapes, i.e. to maintain the sustainable use of the biodiversity-rich patches.

B. Support the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity for Problem Diagnosis, Priority Setting and Decision Making Purposes

This activity is carried out through the collection and use of better Information and participatory tools in relation to biodiversity in landscape mosaics. The activity seeks to develop and disseminate biodiversity assessment and monitoring techniques to provide information that helps to conserve biodiversity in ways suited to meet the needs of poor rural families.

See also Multidisciplinary Landscape Assessment (MLA) and Biodiversity Platform Project Website