Abstract
Shifts in global land use have led to loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services and land degradation. In many geographical areas the deterioration is very serious scale and the impact is huge, both in terms of food production and deforestation. The proposed research will identify opportunities for ecological restoration by analysing how an expansion of agroforestry management onto degraded land may reinstate productivity and ecosystem services. Reforestation as a restoration alternative has been widely recognized, however, the provision of ecosystem services may be limited. Agroforestry, in contrast, offers the possibility to generate a wide variety of both environmental and socioeconomic benefits, and through that also a higher potential of success. With a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches the project will capture a broad spectrum of drivers of degradation as well as possibilities to overcome obstacles that hinders restoration. I will make a comprehensive assessment of opportunities and risks associated with ecological restoration of degraded land. More specifically, my aim is to propose practical solutions for restoration of degraded land with a focus on multiple ecosystem services based on comparative field research from India and Vietnam and carried out in close collaboration with Prof. Ruth DeFries and her research group at Columbia University and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
Sweden