Geoscience Reference
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monitoring of forest biodiversity and complexity, and a community-owned mill that provides
employment opportunities while respecting the ecological goals for sustainable forest man-
agement. Employment opportunities have also been diversified through tourism develop-
ments and a casino (Trosper 2007). New models of land ownership, such as community
forests are also on the increase (Braxton-Little 2005).
Protected areas are a cornerstone of biodiversity conservation, but in these days of changing
climate and land transformation, the protected area network needs to be embedded in a
matrix of well-managed landscapes that provide ecosystem services, ecological connectiv-
ity, and improved well-being for people. In addition, protected areas themselves fulfil a
range of social and ecological functions, and 'wilderness' areas are only one of many pro-
tected area models that accommodate a range of sustainability and livelihood needs (Cor-
son et al. 2014). A landscape approach can maintain spatial heterogeneity and combine
biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, and food production, thereby maintaining
resilience and delivering a wide range of ecosystem services and contributing to sustainabil-
ity goals (Wu 2006, 2012, 2013, Cumming 2011, Musacchio 2011, Fischer et al. 2012, Opdam
et al. 2013). Understanding landscape change requires integrated knowledge of the interact-
ing effects of climate, environment, ecology and land-use at a range of spatial and temporal
scales. A multi-scalar, interdisciplinary perspective can help to guide management at local-
landscape scales, which can help in mitigating the effects of global drivers (Cumming et al.
2013, Opdam et al. 2013).
No single academic discipline, stakeholder group or expert opinion can provide the means
of navigating the perfect storm that humanity is currently facing (Wu and Hobbs 2002, Dear-
ing et al. 2010, 2012, Musacchio 2011). Knowledge of global and regional climate, topography,
hydrology, ecology, long-term change, and the socio-ecological context are required to
understand and predict land-cover change and its implications for ecosystem services and
sustainability. Merging perspectives from different disciplines and stakeholders is challeng-
ing, however, because of differences in perspective, experience, risk perceptions, priorities,
and aspirations. Therefore, frameworks are needed that encourage complexity thinking and
facilitate the dialogue across disciplinary and social boundaries, thereby facilitating shared
learning and the development of creative visions for a sustainable future (Wolfe et al. 2007,
Opdam et al. 2013, Rogers et al. 2013). Good conservation decisions will need knowledge co-
production involving a wide range of stakeholders with different experience, perception and
values (Gardner 2012, Sutherland et al. 2012, Adams and Sandbrook 2013, Angelstam et al.
2013, Opdam et al. 2013). For example, a multidisciplinary approach is required to implement
Future Earth, a research initiative that aims to mobilize research on sustainability and global
change in the context of stronger science-policy partnerships and stakeholder networks
(<http://www.icsu.org/future-earth>) (Dearing 2013, Gillson and Marchant 2014).
Negotiating a desired future involves an examination of the variability and resilience of
different landscape elements within the context, scale, history and contingencies and
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