Restoration Works When Communities Can Thrive

Overview

Landscape restoration is often discussed in terms of hectares, seedlings and carbon. Those measures can be useful, but they are not enough to understand whether a restoration programme will endure.

Begin with institutions and land use

The people who live in and use a landscape understand its economic value and its constraints. Meaningful consultation, land-use clarity, rights, appropriate permissions and realistic responsibilities must form part of restoration design.

Link ecology to livelihoods

In mining-affected settings, households may rely on activities that damage ecosystems because alternative opportunities are limited. Restoration plans therefore need pathways into productive work, agricultural systems and enterprises, alongside ecological measures.

Monitor more than inputs

Planting seedlings does not establish long-term ecological recovery. Credible learning requires follow-up evidence about survival, soil, biodiversity, water, land management and the sustainability of local livelihood arrangements.

RECLAIM as an approach

GetCare’s RECLAIM programme aims to connect scientific assessment, community engagement and economic transition. Its development and demonstrations will need to meet technical, legal and environmental safeguards before claims of achieved restoration are made.