Invasions by woody alien species threaten biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the livelihoods of affected communities. If left uncontrolled, invasive trees will continue spreading, thereby invading and degrading valuable land.

A new Woody Weeds practice brief describes how management of invasive trees needs jointly defined spatial planning and coordination of management interventions across sectors and stakeholders, particularly when communal land tenure systems are affected. This is important, because spatially explicit management of invasive trees is especially suitable and effective when it is integrated in existing or newly developed land use and management plans.

We show that community organised management of invasive trees is possible when it is done in a joint effort of all concerned stakeholders. Using two examples, one in Kenya and one in Tanzania, we further show that a spatially explicit management approach is particularly suitable to complement existing land use and management plans. Such participatory engagement of local actors in management efforts is key in enhancing ownership of management options.
The practice brief can be downloaded here.