Florence Landsberg

Research Associate

Bio

Florence is a Research Associate with the Global Restoration Initiative team. She works with various stakeholders in East Africa on restoring the vitality of degraded landscapes, helping them implement the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM).

She is an expert in ecosystem services and led the development of the Ecosystem Services Review for Impact Assessment, a structured method to assess project impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services during environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA).

Prior to joining WRI, Florence used her expertise in remote sensing to evaluate the risks of deforestation in the Venezuelan Andes and detect indicators of land mines in Croatia.

Florence has an Agronomy Engineer Degree from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) and a Master in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Free University of Brussels (Belgium).

Blog Posts

Tree-planting Startup Shows 4 Steps to Raising Capital for Restoration
by Sofia Faruqi and Florence Landsberg - February 17, 2017
Capital is essential for restoration projects to deliver financial, environmental and social returns. WRI's new roadmap offers four steps to help restoration companies attract investment.
Ethiopia Commits to Restore One-Sixth of its Land
by Aaron Minnick, Tesfay Woldemariam, Chris Reij, Fred Stolle, Florence Landsberg and James Anderson - October 21, 2014
The New York Declaration on Forests issued at the UN Climate Summit last month includes a global pledge to restore 350 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes by 2030.

Several countries confirmed their commitment to restore millions of hectares of degraded land, with Ethiopia making one of the most significant pledges—setting a target to restore 15 million hectares of degraded and deforested land into productivity by 2025.
How to Weave Ecosystem Services into Impact Assessments
by Florence Landsberg - October 02, 2013
The Wayuu people in northern Colombia depend on shrubland for grazing their livestock. These herds serve as the Wayuus’ main source of income and food, and this is partly why they depend so heavily on the existence and condition of shrubland ecosystems. But livestock are also used to pay dowries or make amends, playing a major role in facilitating social interactions between families and clans. If an oil and gas project adversely affects the shrubland ecosystem, it could impact not only the Wayuus’ income and protein intake, but the social bonds that hold these communities together.

Most planners fail to account for the multiple—and sometimes underappreciated—benefits that people derive from their environment, a concept known as ecosystem services. While new Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) standards require impact practitioners to account for ecosystem services when evaluating a proposed project’s potential impacts, many lack a methodological approach that would enable them to properly integrate social and environmental issues.

Until now, that is. WRI’s new guide, Weaving Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessment: A Step-by-Step Method, aims to highlight the interdependence of development projects, people, and the environment. The guide helps impact practitioners and project developers evaluate the social implications of impacts on ecosystems brought by highways, dams, oil and gas wells, and other such projects. By systematically incorporating a consideration of ecosystem services into environmental and social impact assessments, planners can mitigate negative impacts on ecosystem services while also achieving project objectives.
Burkina Faso Farmers Lead the Way on Food Security and Climate Change Resilience
by Robert Winterbottom, Florence Landsberg and Chris Reij - August 15, 2013
If you want to know how to grow crops in the face of climate change, drought, and land degradation, ask Ousséni Kindo, Ousséni Zoromé, or Yacouba Sawadogo—three farmers in Burkina Faso’s Yatenga region.

Policy makers, researchers, and NGO representatives gathered earlier this year at a workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to discuss strategies on combating food insecurity and adapting to climate change. Attendees at the event—organized by the group Network for Participatory Approaches to Research and Planning (Réseau MARP Burkina)—heard from several of Burkina Faso’s farmers on how they produce food on degraded lands. The farmers and participants provided interesting insights into climate-smart agriculture methods—including how to scale up these practices throughout the nation.
Demystifying the Role of Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessments
by Florence Landsberg - June 04, 2013
Ensuring that development projects benefit both people and the planet is becoming more and more of a priority.

Environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) have been in use for decades to consider the effects of projects such as dams, highways, and oil and gas development. Over the years, ESIAs have evolved to cover both environmental and social impacts, including health and human rights.

However, the assessments often study social or environmental factors separately from one another, missing the many ways in which they interact.

In 2012, important financial institutions--the International Finance Corporation and the Equator Principles Financial Institutions--took a welcome step towards promoting a more holistic approach to impact assessment, requiring their clients to address ecosystem services as part of their due diligence.

Incorporating the concept of ecosystem services into ESIA can ensure that affected stakeholders, project developers, financial, and governmental institutions understand the full scope of a proposed project’s impacts on people and the environment. But as I recently learned at the annual conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) two weeks ago, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what the concept of “ecosystem services” really means and how it can be applied to conducting impact assessments. It’s a good time to clear up confusion on this critically important yet complex issue.
Ecosystem Services and the New IFC Performance Standards
by Florence Landsberg - November 17, 2011
Today the World Resources Institute released Ecosystem Services Review for Impact Assessment: Introduction and Guide to Scoping, the first of two Working Papers presenting a new methodology to help incorporate ecosystem services into impact assessment.

On January 1, 2012, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will begin requiring client projects to “maintain the benefits from ecosystem services.” For example, a project draining wetlands would have to examine its impact not only in terms of biodiversity loss, but also in terms of the loss of pollination services for surrounding farmers and loss of fish breeding and nursery grounds for fishermen.
Q&A: Avoiding the Resource Curse in Uganda
by Peter Veit and Florence Landsberg - April 08, 2011
The following Q&A and photo essay originally appeared on allAfrica.com, and are reposted with permission.
Maps Guide Water and Sanitation Planning in Africa
by Florence Landsberg and Norbert Henninger - October 08, 2009
State of the art GIS maps shed new light on Uganda’s development challenges.

Publications

Attracting Private Investment to Landscape Restoration: A Roadmap
Many restoration projects seek to raise capital, but restoration leaders often lack knowledge of the investment process. The New Restoration Economy—part of the Global Restoration Initiative at the World Resources Institute—has found that successful efforts to attract private capital involve...
by Sofia Faruqi and Florence Landsberg - February 2017

publication
Topics: Finance, Forests
Weaving Ecosystem Services into Impact Assessment
A Step-by-Step Method
This report introduces the Ecosystem Services Review for Impact Assessment (ESR for IA), a six step method to address project impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services as part of the environmental and social impact assessment process. The steps build on assessments routinely conducted by...
by Florence Landsberg, Mercedes Stickler, Norbert Henninger, Jo Treweek and Orlando Venn - October 2013

publication
Topics: Business
Mapping a Better Future
Spatial Analysis and Pro-Poor Livestock Strategies in Uganda
This report uses mapping data to examine the spatial relationships between poverty, livestock production systems, the location of livestock services, in order to ensure that government investments in the livestock sector benefit smallholders and high-poverty locations.

by Norbert Henninger, Florence Landsberg, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and International Livestock Research Institute - October 2010

publication
Topics: Governance
Geography: Africa, East Africa, Uganda
Mapping a Healthier Future
How Spatial Analysis Can Guide Pro-Poor Water and Sanitation Planning in Uganda
This report presents maps and analyses designed to inform the policies surrounding poverty reduction efforts in Uganda and to help reach the 2015 national targets on safe drinking water and improved sanitation.

by Stephen Adam, Norbert Henninger, Florence Landsberg, Uganda Ministry of Health, Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, International Livestock Research Institute and World Resources Institute - October 2009

publication
Topics: Water
Geography: Uganda
Mapping a Better Future
How Spatial Analysis Can Benefit Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda
Drawing on Uganda’s rich baseline of wetland data and poverty mapping, this report provides a detailed examination of the links between ecosystem services and the location of poor communities and presents practical lessons for policy-makers across government.

by Norbert Henninger and Florence Landsberg - May 2009

publication
Topics: Food, Governance
Geography: Uganda
Nature's Benefits in Kenya
An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being
This report provides a new approach to integrating spatial data on poverty and ecosystems in Kenya. It is endorsed by five Permanent Secretaries in Kenya and with a Foreword by Wangari Maathai (recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize).

This is a publication of the World Resources...
by Norbert Henninger and Florence Landsberg - May 2007

publication
Topics: Forests
Geography: Kenya

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Florence Landsberg

Tree-planting Startup Shows 4 Steps to Raising Capital for Restoration

Ethiopia Commits to Restore One-Sixth of its Land

How to Weave Ecosystem Services into Impact Assessments

Burkina Faso Farmers Lead the Way on Food Security and Climate Change Resilience

Demystifying the Role of Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessments

Ecosystem Services and the New IFC Performance Standards

Q&A: Avoiding the Resource Curse in Uganda

Maps Guide Water and Sanitation Planning in Africa

Attracting Private Investment to Landscape Restoration: A Roadmap

Weaving Ecosystem Services into Impact Assessment

A Step-by-Step Method

Mapping a Better Future

Spatial Analysis and Pro-Poor Livestock Strategies in Uganda

Mapping a Healthier Future

How Spatial Analysis Can Guide Pro-Poor Water and Sanitation Planning in Uganda

Mapping a Better Future

How Spatial Analysis Can Benefit Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda

Nature's Benefits in Kenya

An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

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Making Big Ideas Happen™

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A Step-by-Step Method

Spatial Analysis and Pro-Poor Livestock Strategies in Uganda

How Spatial Analysis Can Guide Pro-Poor Water and Sanitation Planning in Uganda

How Spatial Analysis Can Benefit Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda

An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

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