Forest Restoration in SE Asia for biodiversity, climate and people: lessons learned and future directions

Lindsay F. Banin, Statistical Ecologist, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Wednesday 10th April, 1-2pm, Cottrell 2V1 and streamed on Teams (contact the seminar organiser for the Teams link).
This seminar is open to all staff, students and affiliates of the University of Stirling. The seminar is hosted by Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES). 

Who this might appeal to: The presentation focuses on tropical forest ecology, ecosystem change and forest restoration for addressing the twinned climate and biodiversity crises, so it is likely to particularly appeal to those focussed on vegetation ecology and global change. The talk also incorporates interdisciplinary aspects such as the opportunity for livelihood benefits generated from restoration action, and technical tools such as the application of remote sensing to decision-making.

Abstract: Across the tropics, forests have been subject to ongoing land use pressures, clearance and degradation. In the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, alongside other global initiatives and targets, there is currently a great impetus for recovering ecosystems, enhancing tree cover and using natural habitats to deliver key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. In our recent synthesis (Banin et al. 2023) we sought to explore how effective forest restoration activities were in achieving these goals, and identified key gaps in our understanding – these findings will be highlighted in the talk. The talk will also explore the opportunity for assisted natural regeneration in SE Asia, incorporating some recently published results on forest regeneration in a Malaysian landscape containing intact, logged and restored forest areas (Bartholomew & Hayward et al 2024). Finally, I will elaborate on an interdisciplinary project focusing on forest restoration in practice in Sumatra, Indonesia, which brings to the fore some of the opportunities, practical challenges and knowledge gaps with delivering forest restoration at scale, with sustainable outcomes.

Bio: Dr Lindsay F Banin is a scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the structure, function and dynamics of plant communities, with a particular focus on SE Asian forests. Her work is concerned with impacts of environmental change and evidence-based, equitable approaches to forest conservation and restoration and quantitative techniques. She leads the FOR-RESTOR network on SE Asian forest restoration.

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