We are losing natural forests at the rate of 10 million ha per year, and forest restoration is one part of the solution. Yet a narrow focus on planting trees renders forest restoration technical when in fact it has significant political and governance dimensions. Our overarching research question is "How, by whom, and following which norms are decisions made about where, what, with whom and how trees are planted or forests restored?

The objective of this project is to improve integration of governance dimensions in forest restoration implementation. This will be achieved through four outputs:

1. A systematic review of governance challenges and solutions (e.g. tenure, stakeholder dynamics, policies, incentives etc.) in different countries and contexts.

2. An in-depth analysis of two aspects of governance of relevance to forest restoration in Madagascar: tenure and stakeholder dynamics.

3. Dissemination and replication of project results through a research-practice interdisciplinary expert group that will act as 'ambassadors' for the project.

4. A package of knowledge products (guidelines, scientific articles and other printed and online tools).