Beyond tree planting: Mobilizing a global production network for savanna restoration in Brazil

Abstract

Emerging global production networks innovate the supply of restoration products and services to reverse degraded ecosystems globally. Yet, savanna restoration interventions often neglect diverse plant life forms and planting techniques in implementing large-scale pledges. Drawing on global production network analysis, we examine how the configuration of savanna restoration practices in Brazil influences decision-making processes and outcomes. Our assessment of a case study in Central Brazil reveals a myriad of forces affecting the interconnections between institutional drivers, markets, and supply systems for restoration actions across multiple scales. Prevailing policies and regulations often disregard diverse expertise, economic strategies, and socio-cultural perspectives when setting savanna restoration priorities and incentives. While we identify different buyers influencing market demands to meet mandatory or voluntary environmental compliance, a wide range of suppliers remakes savanna restoration actions according to regional contexts. The experiences of community-led plant material supply systems in Central Brazil showcase collective organization that enables situated socio-technical innovations to link a high diversity of non-tree species with livelihood outcomes. This study contributes to revealing how institutional drivers and restoration markets assert political authority and commercial objectives in multifaceted decisions, while community partnerships catalyze place-based savanna restoration innovations.