The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative* is an international collaborative effort to strengthen and scale-up the practice of whole landscape approaches to address the full set of needs from the rural land base – from sustainable, climate-resilient food and fiber production to biodiversity conservation to rural livelihoods. As part of this Initiative, the Landscapes Blog serves as a venue to learn about, share, and discuss topics related to landscape approaches. Just as there are many stakeholders within a landscape, the Blog seeks to engage a cross‐sectoral group of leaders in the field with interests in agriculture, food security, natural resources management, and poverty reduction. Through this variety of voices and perspectives, the Blog highlights new research, presents examples of landscape approaches in practice, and contributes to the discussions during major international events and policy processes.
Three thematic series, showcasing the work and experiences of guest authors, serve as the foundation of the blog. Landscape of the Week presents a specific country or landscape where whole landscape approaches are practiced or have the potential to be utilized. Exploring the Evidence provides updates on research underway and showcases findings from the Initiative’s Global Review as they are produced. Finally, stories and perspectives of people actively engaged in landscape approaches, from the field to the policy level, make up the Voices from the Field series.
Blog posts in any given week may also include reporting on other news, events, and publications that would be of interest to those working on whole landscape approaches. These supplementary posts comprise the category Staying Current, and help frame the work on landscape approaches in the context of larger discussions on agricultural development and sustainability, including important international policy processes.
For more information about the Landscapes Blog, or if you are interested in contributing, please contact Rachel Friedman at rfriedman@ecoagriculture.org
*The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative has nine Co-Organizers including: Bioversity International, Conservation International, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation; EcoAgriculture Partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and the World Resources Institute.
This blog is managed by EcoAgriculture Partners on behalf of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative. Entries in this blog are for discussion purposes only and do not necessarily represent the views of the Co-Organizer Organizations.
The designations employed in this blog do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of EcoAgriculture Partners or the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Links to other web sites are provided for the user’s convenience and do not constitute endorsement of material at those sites, or any associated organization, product or service.
Your blog is very important to collect knowledge and experiences we need for the for the future of the earth.
It is related of the slow food movement. I am a Dutch member of that movement.
Regards
Dear all,
Congratulations for this great initiative ! I look forward to reading this blog, and also contributing to it.
You propose to focus on “production systems for food, forest and wetland products”. Wouldn’t it make sense to look at the production and consumption systems? In fact, consumption patterns may be as important as production regarding the impacts on landscapes and use of natural resources. Within the “Food for the Cities” initiative of FAO, we indeed promote a food system approach, linking consumers and producers, urban and rural areas, within a landscape continuum.
Sincerely, Julien
Julien,
You make an excellent point that we must broaden our idea of landscapes to include not only farmers’ production and livelihood activities and the management of ecosystem services, but also the broader food systems that shape them. We welcome consumer-oriented groups as well as others working on urban food systems, like FAO’s Food for Cities, to share their perspectives, studies and examples with this Blog community.
Regards,
Sara