Strengthening Capacities for Collaborative Landscape Management in Africa

A Broad Skill Set

Recognition is growing that integrated management of rural landscapes is a preferred way to ensure that expanding human demands for food, bio-energy, and ecosystem services do not collide with limitations on land, water, and other natural resources, nor undermine biodiversity (Sayer et al., 2013).

Who Knows What

Working from a landscape perspective requires a broad spectrum of capacities. A recent study of integrated landscape initiatives (ILIs) in Africa exposes challenges, however, in realizing the capacities required (Milder et al., 2014). This paper summarizes available knowledge about developing capacities for managing integrated landscapes and proposes ways to accelerate the capacity development process.

Filling the Gaps

Capacity development projects, and the development of tools and training resources to help African landscape leaders improve management outcomes, are happening across the continent and in NGO offices around the world. However, many of these tools are redundant, difficult to find, or stubbornly proprietary. This brief identifies key actions to break through these and other challenges facing capacity development for integrated landscape management on the continent. The “Springboards for Action” propose building on some key ongoing efforts to catalyze big changes in how integrated landscape management skills and knowledge are transferred in Africa.