Forest and Landscape Restoration faces governance challenges due to social heterogeneity and a complex policy environment, creating a Gordian knot of contrasting needs and strategies. Scholars propose common entry points for inclusive governance and reconciling restoration strategies, but empirical evidence is scarce. The study addresses this gap by exploring common entry points from actor clusters and trade-offs for inclusive governance, and by identifying how actor traits and policy components are associated with FLR strategy decisions. It utilizes data from 269 actor interviews in Ethiopia, including actor categories, internal traits (deep core values, ecosystem service value, beliefs, and norms), restoration strategies, and the status of the policy environment. The analysis is based on the Agency-Structure framework using ordination and rank-ordered probit regression. Results reveal significant trade-offs between timber-pole production versus culture, NTFP versus soil vitality services, food versus microclimate services, biodiversity and water regulation versus carbon sequestration. Based on the preference scores, we identified five possible FLR groups: Nature-Norm Stewards (cluster 1), Food-security stewards (cluster 2), Market-driven utilitarians (cluster 3), Livelihood-oriented stewards (cluster 4), and sustainable timber and NTFP stewards (cluster 5). With possible entry points coming from Nature-Norm Stewards and Market-driven utilitarians. Reconciliation of assisted-natural-regeneration (ANR) strategies requires a focus on the bio-normative dimension, including biodiversity and cultural services, with coherent policies. Active strategies (plantations) necessitate the eco-timber dimension with policy clarity. Agroforestry requires a focus on the NTFP-oriented “soil-averse”, eco-timber, and biodiversity “eco-carbon” dimensions, along with coherent and inclusive policies. However, for sustainability and permanence, both nature-based and livelihood-based traits need to be considered simultaneously. Thus, calling for a more integrated landscape with numerous strategies. Actors perceive the policy environment as insufficient in clarity and inclusiveness, and as partly incoherent. Policy clarity and inclusiveness limit ANR decisions, whereas coherence limits decisions on active strategies. Thus, successfully implementing national and international FLR targets and ensuring sustainability requires establishing policy instruments to bridge the contrasting value-beliefs among actors. Our theory-based framework for identifying common practical entry points for inclusive governance and decision-making for FLR strategy has proven applicable and is recommended for further use.
Ahimbisibwe et al. (Sun,) studied this question.