Digitalizing forest landscape restoration: a social and political analysis of emerging technological practices.


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Article
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Abstract

Digital technologies are increasingly influencing forest landscape restoration practices worldwide. We investigate how digital platforms specifically reconfigure restoration practices, resources, and policy across scales. By analyzing digital restoration platforms, we identify four drivers of technological developments, including: scientific expertise to optimize decisions; capacity building through digital networks; digital tree-planting markets to operate supply chains; and community participation to foster co-creation. Our analysis shows how digital developments transform restoration practices by producing techniques, remaking networks, creating markets, and reorganizing participation. These transformations often involve power imbalances regarding expertise, finance, and politics across the Global North and Global South. However, the distributed qualities of digital systems can also create alternative ways of undertaking restoration actions. We propose that digital developments for restoration should not be understood as neutral tools but rather as power-laden processes that can create, perpetuate, or counteract social and environmental inequalities.

Description
Keywords
Forest landscape restoration, digital technologies, forests, participation, social inequality
Journal Title
Env Polit
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0964-4016
1743-8934
Volume Title
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Sponsorship
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) ERC (866006)
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No.866006).