Integrated landscape management in forest dependent landscapes: learning from the Model Forest Network to strengthen the theory and practice of integrated landscape management

Forests play a critical role in supporting biodiversity by serving as home to 65% of terrestrial taxa and hosting the highest concentration of bird, invertebrate and microbe species. Many early efforts to protect biodiversity at forest frontiers focused on meeting demands for wildlife and biodiversity conservation to the exclusion of the other goods and services demanded of landscapes. The widespread failure of these single sector approaches has led to a renaissance of integrated management approaches in forest landscapes. This thesis explores one such approach, integrated landscape management (ILM), through the lens of the Model Forest Network. In particular, I use a case study approach to assess the roles that landscape initiatives play in their landscapes, the social, political and historical contexts in which they emerge, and how their activities influence stakeholders’ ability to adapt to change. I find that while landscape initiatives are successful in establishing new partnerships and engaging a diversity of stakeholders, they are limited in on-the-ground outcomes and the degree to which they can affect systemic change