The multifunctional benefits of restoring degraded landscapes: Lessons from Ethiopia

Integrated implementation of various land management options is the key for successful
land restoration programs. Integrated sustainable land management practices could improve land
restoration success and enhance multiple ecosystem services generated by the landscape.
Implementation of land and water management options at landscape level can cause tradeoffs due to
conflicting land uses and varying needs of land users. It is thus essential to assess the climate-
smartness of those landscapes in order to sustain the benefits associated with the management
practices. We used various in-situ data, empirical and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem
Services and Trade-offs models to assess the multifunctionality of landscapes and evaluate the
associated benefits enjoyed in selected landscapes of Ethiopia. We employed a climate smartness
landscape index to determine the climate-smartness of those landscapes by integrating
multifunctional services provided by the landscapes due to the various interventions. We obtained a
positive change in multiple ecosystem services due to land restoration efforts in four watersheds in
Ethiopia. The result is substantiated by both modelling results and in-situ observation data. Even
though the land management activities conducted in the study watersheds broughted a positive
impacts, the optimal scenario shows that there are still opportunities to further enhance the
magnitude and multifunctionalities of ecosystem services that would be obtained in the optimal land
management scenario. All watersheds analyzed in this study showed climate smartness at the
landscape level, with some level of difference among them. Gudoberet and Aba Gerima watersheds
showed more climate smartness than the Anjeni and Debre Mewi. The study shows that
investigating the multiple functions of more than five ecosystem services can be designated as
multifunctional landscapes.