CurveBend: From biodiversity loss to a nature-positive society through mobilisation of collective action at the landscape scale

In our proposal, we introduce "Ecological Lifescapes", a new concept that encompasses the diverse landscape needs of species for their complete life cycles, including mating, breeding, growth, foraging, and resting. This idea underscores how biodiversity loss is often a result of the increasing inability of organisms to find suitable spaces within their environment that meet their ecological requirements. In parallel, we develop the concept of "Human Lifescapes", which reflects the landscape needs of humans, covering housing, food production, transport, work, and leisure during their daily routines, yearly cycles, and life phases. Missing pieces of the puzzle of human lifescapes and the available variation in the landscape deteriorates people's livelihoods. Our research explores the integration of ecological and human lifescapes into unified "Socio-Ecological Lifescapes" as a potential solution to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. We investigate innovative collective action methods, including trans-sectoral bridging or "Commons 2.0," to restore biodiversity at the socio-ecological landscape scale. This approach is empirically developed and tested through collaborations with societal partners across three livestock-dominated regions: Tanzania/Kenya, Argentina, and the Netherlands. These regions provide a spectrum of ecological to human lifescape dominance, offering a unique context for our study. We progress from examining existing collective action models in the first phase (years 1-4) to assessing co-created, innovative solutions for biodiversity restoration in socio-ecological lifescapes in the later phase (years 5-7). Building on successful, proven collaborations, our methodology is hands-on and based in field work on the ground, comparing various strategies against possible changes in biodiversity loss. By deeply understanding the local ecological and societal contexts of our study areas, our researchers and partners aim for a comprehensive approach to biodiversity conservation, addressing the pressing challenge through practical, grounded actions. These local findings are then synthesised into globally applicable general principles.