DOI
10.3390/f11040475

Summary
This study is concerned with a community based forest restoration project in the Philippines, to achieve the global forest and landscape restoration challenge. Several initiatives have influenced this local project. Gregorio et al. described the Bonn challenge which was first introduced in 2011 and aimed to restore some 150 million hectares of global degraded land by 2020 by following the forest landscape restoration (FLR) approach. The concept of the FLR is not merely concerned with ecological recovery but also focusses on human well-being in deforested and degraded landscapes. This community-based approach to achieving restoration has been a primary goal for the Philippine government since the launch of the Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) program in 1995. Under this initiative, community groups called peoples organisations (POs) are granted legal access to state-owned land for 25 years with support delivered by the government. However, success has been limited. Objectives set related to poverty alleviation and sustainable management of forest resources have been far from achieved. A case study site was selected and assessed to identify the issues causing this breakdown in the community-based restoration project. The case study site was located in Barangay Kawayanon, a community in the municipality of Caibiran. The site is impoverished, with sever food security issues and minimal employment opportunities.
The case study site was assessed using surveys personal interviews and workshops with stakeholders, and participant observation. The review of literature also guided the assessment. Following the process mentioned above Gregorio et al. applied a systems approach to analyse and enhance the findings.
The project interventions, with guidance from extension officer, resulted in increased outcomes of restoration in comparison to previous efforts over the years. Some of the interventions included: (1) Adequate social preparation – relevant training programs, record keeping and financial management training. (2) Livelihood projects promoting food security and income – e.g an agroforestry system was set up with guidance from the research team.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
The relevance of this study lies within it the community based approach aspect to forest management and how complex systems thinking was used to enhance the progress of the project.
Gregorio et al. applied a systems approach to assess the complex factors of the community-based forest restoration system. The authors also discuss the influence of a community based approach on the project and highlight the Philippines FLR approach to management of resources. Community based approaches are common to low-income forestry restoration projects. The implications for other FLR projects were found to:
• Appropriate project design
• Adequate social and educational preparation
• Good leadership
• Transparency in handling project funds
• Sustainable livelihood and food security measures
• Adequate financing and timely disbursement of project funds
• Security of land and tenure
• Effective governance
• Support from extension officer
• Women are essential restoration agents

Point of Strength
While this research does not present any direct methods for reimagining higher education, it may act as useful reference point for teaching complex systems knowledge and sustainable development from the context of a low-income society. The implications for the aforementioned FLR present a roadmap for the possible replication of the project in a different research context.
An ‘influence diagram’ is presented in figure 2 specific to the issue of low survival rates of trees in the past and how different factors affected the issue. This is a useful example of an effective visual aid for complex systems thinking.