Ecosystem restoration, recognized as a critical strategy for climate change adaptation and mitigation, faces significant challenges in achieving widespread implementation. A particular facet of this challenge lies in the active involvement of rural landowners. Our study aimed to understand rural landowners' perspectives, motivations, and characteristics that influence their participation in restoration projects in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on 68 semi‐structured interviews with two groups of landowners: 36 who received support and 32 who did not receive project support from a local non‐governmental organization to restore native forests on their landholdings. Approximately three‐quarters of the sample are classified as smallholders (<80 ha). The main difference between the two groups is the dependence on agricultural production as the main source of income, with 22% of farmers in the supported group and 72% in the unsupported group. This socio‐economic characteristic appeared to influence the decision to restore native forest. Farmers' focus tends to be linked to rural production, and the main obstacle to restoration was the loss of productive land. They usually allow natural forest regeneration to establish on slopes. The other type of landowner (lifestylers) mainly restored land through planting of seedlings, with the main barrier being the cost of restoration. Both groups had water conservation as their main motivation for restoration. Our study shows that understanding the perspectives and motivations of the diversity of rural landowners is crucial to effectively engage them and address the socio‐economic feasibility of different restoration approaches.

Brazil offers a complex and unique example of tropical landscapes. The country has considerably decreased deforestation since 2004, but Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is arguably under question, both as a concept and as a tool to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as deforestation levels have increased over the last five years. This article investigates how different policy actors have perceived REDD+ over time, how they have engaged in REDD+ efforts over the past decade, and how REDD+ implementation in Brazil should move forward accordingly. We analyzed qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and actors’ “stances”, i.e., their positions—with regards to key issues connected to REDD+ governance and its challenges—over three different time periods (Phase 1: 2010–2011, Phase 2: 2015–2016, and Phase 3: 2019), so as to identify the practical implications of these diverse interpretations. We argue that the way actors perceive REDD+ is intimately related to the way they interpret and assign meanings towards it and, in consequence, the way they coordinate REDD+-related practices and efforts. We focus on the link between perceptions and efforts so as to comprehend the relevance that different interpretations have to both the concept and implementation of REDD+ in Brazil. Our analysis concentrates on the potential to improve the coordination and integration of REDD+ implementation and diverse actors’ efforts with regards to REDD+ activities. Results suggest that actors’ perceptions of REDD+ generated a plurality of meanings, highlighting a range of dialectical and ontological interactions that have, in turn, resulted in multiple REDD+ interpretations. Findings highlight that different actors have the same interests when it comes to their organizational efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, suggesting that there is room for a better coordination of efforts towards this end, as well as increased collaboration.

Purpose: This paper aims to shed light on the private sector's perspective on REDD+ in Brazil, and how this perspective has evolved over time. Methodology/Approach: This research is part of the Global Comparative Study on REDD+ (GCS REDD+) on policies and political processes from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Findings: Our results indicate that national business organizations believe that REDD+ is an affordable way to mitigate climate change. However, it suggests that while this sector is seeking financial benefits from REDD+ activities, it is taking a very cautious and risk-averse approach. The private sector is not engaged and does not self-identify within the operational challenges that REDD+ policymakers are grappling with as they seek to embrace the possibilities of this mechanism. Research Limitation/Implication: To explore how these private sector actors perceive REDD+, whether such a perspective has changed from 2010 to 2019, and its implications for further REDD+ design in the national context. Originality/Value of the paper: private actors' positions on key statements about financing, benefit sharing and equity, governance, and challenges over three different time periods. A better understanding of how the private sector perceives REDD+ will contribute to national framing and more effective multi-level governance.