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Assessing motivators and barriers for the adoption of productive forest restoration in Northeastern Pará, Brazilian Amazon

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The choice of an agricultural production system is influenced by land managers’ goals, available resources, socioecological conditions, and institutional context. In efforts to align socioeconomic development with forest conservation, alternatives to conventional agriculture — such as productive forest restoration — are often sought. This is especially relevant in tropical regions such as the Brazilian Amazon, where land degradation and abandonment are common. This study investigates the motivators and barriers affecting the adoption of productive forest restoration in the Northeastern mesoregion of Pará, Brazil. Semi-structured interviews and gamified ranking activities were conducted with 53 informants, including specialists from various sectors and farmers of different property sizes. A regression model assessed the influence of management practices, external support, and household characteristics for farmers’ adoption behaviour. Ranking indexes and Principal Component Analysis allowed to visualize the relative importance of socioecological and motivational factors. Specialists largely agreed that agroforestry-based active restoration is the most effective system for NE Pará. However, small farmer households, those more propense to adopt agroecological practices, often lack access to technical assistance and financial support, hindering transitions to more sustainable food production systems. The regression model revealed a significant inverse relationship between the number of trees planted and two factors: land tenure security and Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), suggesting that agroforestry is often practiced informally. These findings highlight the importance of regularizing farmers and upscale resources to stimulate sustainable land use transitions.

Source: Environmental Challenges

DOI: 10.1016/j.envc.2025.101351

Author: Camilo Tomazini Pedrollo

Institution: University of Copenhagen

Language: English

Topic: Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Decent work and economic growth, Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,140