DFG Research Unit

A Social-Ecological Systems Approach to Inform Ecosystem Restoration in Rural Africa

Co-creating social-ecological ecosystem restoration in Western Rwanda: Important updates from the living lab

Co-creating social-ecological ecosystem restoration in Western Rwanda: Important updates from the living lab

“If you want to go fast – go alone. If you want to go far – go together.”

– origin unknown, often attributed to an African proverb

|
June 3, 2026
Reconsidering the role of home gardens in tropical forest landscape restoration

Reconsidering the role of home gardens in tropical forest landscape restoration

In tropical biodiverse landscapes, forest loss, fragmentation, and degradation are major drivers of biodiversity loss. Forest landscape restoration interventions, a popular strategy to address these issues, most often focus on tree planting and overlook other tree-rich systems such as home gardens (HG). This recent study in western Rwanda’s Afromontane rainforest landscape by Sun et al. (2026) aims to assess these two land use types and their respective roles in supporting landscape connectivity and biodiversity.

|
May 9, 2026

Project partners

Because this research group is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), it is primarily based at institutions in Germany. However, research is working closely with diverse collaborators in Rwanda.

Lead partners

Contributing institutions