Why Local-Led Restoration Works Best in the Amazon and Beyond

The once-degraded palm oil plantation in the Amazon is gradually regenerating, thanks to local farmers working to restore the land.

Amid growing concerns over accelerating deforestation, land degradation, and the competition for limited land, examples like this demonstrate that there is a better path forward. Restoring degraded land is not only possible, but it can also provide sustainable livelihoods and improve the quality of life for local communities.

World Resources Institute (WRI) Brasil is collaborating with five settlements, all located on degraded lands impacted by unsustainable practices such as industrial-scale palm oil and livestock production.

Two of these settlements, João Batista and Abril Vermelho, located outside Belém, the capital of Pará, are at the forefront of this initiative. They cover 11,000 hectares of land that had been left barren and depleted. These areas are home to 700 farming families working to restore the land through more sustainable management practices.

According to the WRI, much of the farmers’ success is attributed to agroforestry, which involves planting trees alongside crops. In the Amazon, agroforestry typically includes growing high-value staple crops like cassava, açaí, or cocoa alongside native tree species such as Brazil nuts and cupuaçu, which help regenerate the land.

Other restoration methods include agroforestry and “assisted natural regeneration,” which combines active planting with passive restoration. This approach involves local communities helping native vegetation recover by removing threats to its growth.

Efforts include eliminating invasive or exotic species that crowd out native plants and building fences to keep livestock from grazing in regenerating areas, allowing natural regeneration to thrive.

Igor da Silva, one of the founders of the João Batista settlement, speaks highly of the initiative. He shares that in just six years of restoration, water that had once dried up has fully returned, fish that had dwindled are now abundant, and crops that were once withered are thriving. He adds that the children’s laughter can again be heard swimming in these restored waters.

WRI emphasises the critical role of community involvement in the success of these restoration projects. A sense of ownership among farmers is essential; no matter how effective agroforestry solutions and techniques may be, they won’t succeed. Locally led projects are also 20 times more impactful than those driven by governments or NGOs.

WRI Brasil conducted a study titled “The Role of Assisted Natural Regeneration in Accelerating Forest and Landscape Restoration,” which examined assisted natural regeneration (ANR) projects in Brazil and globally. The report analysed 24 case studies, 15 in Brazil and 9 internationally, to identify key factors contributing to successful outcomes.

Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) gained popularity in the 1970s when it was used in the Philippines to restore degraded forests and grasslands.

As the name suggests, ANR is an approach that empowers local farmers and communities to assist nature in its self-restoration process when the land has been damaged by fires, cattle grazing, or other disturbances. This method allows the landscape and its forests to use their natural processes to recover lost ecosystems and biodiversity and restore ecological balance.

ANR lies between active tree planting and natural forest regrowth. It involves actions such as reducing barriers to the regeneration of native species (like the presence of cattle that graze on growing vegetation and compact the soil), controlling dominant grasses that hinder the growth of other species, and managing species that obstruct natural succession as the landscape recovers.

One key advantage of ANR is its flexibility—it can be adapted to various contexts and objectives. Additionally, it has a lower implementation cost. It can be applied on small, medium, and large scales, ranging from local projects led by small landowners to large-scale environmental services payment programmes.

The findings of the WRI study show that the assisted natural regeneration approach is effective and can be combined with agroforestry, making large-scale restoration more achievable for small landowners.