BONN, Germany (Landscape News) — How can a forestry company moving to a degraded region with no history of formal employment or community inclusion implement a “landscape approach” – generating benefits for local communities, the environment, and wildlife?

Miro Forestry’s Stephanie Doig and Andrew Collins present their recent efforts to conserve fragile forests and implement a sustainable forestry model in West Africa that balances business interests and the needs of local communities and ecosystems.

Their “learning by doing” approach combined stakeholder engagement, resource-mapping, and a land lease framework that established effective partnerships with governments and local communities.

The result: large areas of conserved forest; the return of wildlife species; an end to swidden — also known as “slash and burn” agriculture — the practice of cutting and burning vegetation to clear land and boost crop production on plantations; and the sustainable management of forestry resources.