Collaborative Assessment of a Large-Scale Integrated Landscape Restoration Project in the Steep-Slope Regions of Central Africa

Francesco Piras, Giulio Castelli , Antonio Santoro, Fides Gakunde, Jean Marie Vianney Nsabiyumva, Marta Allegri, Mauro Agnoletti, Ciro Apollonio, Séverin Nijimbere, Cyrille Hicintuka, Elena Bresci, Federico Preti

Landscape restoration projects are among the most extensive conservation actions at the global level that have been promoted in the last three decades. Such projects, however, cannot exclusively be based on the restoration of natural and semi-natural ecosystems, but should focus on a cultural landscape approach balancing environmental and socio-economic needs. One of the largest restoration projects realized in the last five years was the World Bank’s Burundi Landscape Restoration and Resilience Project (PRRPB). PRRPB utilized an integrated approach to restore the social-ecological systems in different steep-slope areas of Burundi, adopting a mix of landscape restoration solutions (slow-forming terraces, reforestation, etc.) and socio-economic measures. With a large-sample questionnaire, realized on the field with the local population, the following work aimed at assessing the impact, at the local level, of one of the largest landscape restoration projects carried out in a fragile region like Burundian sloping lands. The most perceived vulnerabilities were “Soil erosion and degradation” followed by "Reduction of agricultural production and/or food security”. Most of the interviewed perceived that the project was successful in combating soil erosion as well as in providing other benefits to the local population, and around 60% perceived an improvement in socio-economic conditions. At the same time, results assessed the high reliance of the local food security on traditional agricultural production and the possible positive/negative impacts of rural tourism as perceived by local communities. Project results could be used by local and national stakeholders to implement further initiatives at the local level and will be informative for similar projects in the region.