Beyond Ecology: How Environmental and Social Landscapes Shape Tropical Forest Restoration in Southeast Brazil

ABSTRACT Ecological restoration is a key strategy for addressing global challenges, including climate change and human well‐being. Although a substantial body of literature has investigated how restoration should be conducted, there is still limited understanding of how it is implemented in practice. Here, we investigated the environmental and socioeconomic context in which different restoration interventions (passive vs. active) have been implemented in the southeast Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil. We analyzed a set of environmental (e.g., land use and land cover, slope, elevation, hydrography) and socioeconomic variables (e.g., rural population, GDP per capita) derived from an official restoration database using geospatial and statistical approaches. Overall, environmental variables (such as, pasture land use, higher elevation, and steeper slopes) were more strongly associated with restoration sites than socioeconomic variables (such as agriculture holdings). Active restoration techniques were predominantly implemented in areas with low natural regeneration potential, whereas larger restoration sites were mainly located in more rural municipalities. These patterns can be explained by historical land‐use and economic development trajectories, whereby intense degradation in some regions favors active methods, while pasture abandonment furthers natural regeneration. Because restoration outcomes are driven by complex interactions among socioeconomic, legal, environmental, and historical factors, integrated and transdisciplinary approaches are essential to enhance the effectiveness and benefits of restoration in tropical regions.