LandScale

How do we use land in a way that ensures that people and nature can thrive, together? This is a question that no one entity — a government, a company or a community — can solve alone.

A new tool called LandScale, developed by the Rainforest Alliance, Verra and Conservation International, can enable better land-use decisions at a large scale. By assessing the impacts of all human activities across a given landscape — defined as a large ecological system encompassing multiple features and uses — decision-makers can collaborate to simultaneously measure, manage and improve ecosystem health and human well-being.

How does LandScale work?

Organizations, donors, governments and companies can use LandScale to measure the sustainability of any landscape that is home to substantial natural resource-based economies and supply chains, including agribusiness, forestry, extractives, infrastructure and tourism.

The LandScale assessment framework provides a holistic overview of a landscape in relation to four pillars of sustainability: ecosystems, human well-being, governance and production. Pillars include goals and three categories of indicators which users can tailor to different landscapes.

Once assessments have been reviewed by local experts and validated by LandScale staff members, assessment results can be shared on the easy-to-use, online platform that connects landscape stakeholders to a global audience. Each landscape has a landscape profile that displays key information including project objectives, impact stories, and contributions from partners. The profile also provides access to a landscape report with assessment results that shine a light on where investments can be most effective on the path to sustainability.