A landscape for everyone: integrating rights-based and landscape governance approaches

Abstract

Within a landscape of overlapping ecological, social and economic priorities, there exists a fundamental need to balance the land use dynamics of natural resource management with environmental and livelihood considerations. However, in striving to reach such a balance, people and local institutions are often excluded or forgotten. Many landscapes are not governed equitably and those within the landscape may not know their rights, how to exercise them, or lack legal tenure over their land. We have found that the integration of rights-based and landscape scale approaches to conservation and sustainable natural resource management leads to better landscape governance. This publication provides the opportunity to understand landscape approaches in specific contexts, and more clearly understand rights-based approaches through a series of case studies and applications. It brings to light a number of the challenges and opportunities that people, organisations and institutions confront when integrating these approaches into more balanced landscape governance.