Can large-scale land initiatives fulfill their promises? This is the topic of a month-long online discussion forum ahead of the Global Landscapes Forum which will be held from 6 to 7 December 2014on the sidelines of the UN climate negotiations in Lima, Peru.

The forum is organized by the Landscapes for People Food and Nature initiative (LPFN), the International Center for Tropical Research (CIAT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).

On their respective blogs, the organizations will be promoting discussion among partners and readers in order to better understand and influence investments for large-scale land interventions that affect areas where agriculture is a critical land use.

Blog posts will raise controversial issues, propose interesting solutions, call on a wide variety of experience and cases, and bring to light the many pitfalls for large land initiatives that need to be avoided.

This online discussion is set in the context of two relevant sessions at the Global Landscapes forum: WLE and CIAT’s session on December 7th: Creating the conditions for success in large-scale land restoration and the World Bank and TerrAfrica’s joint session: Building an alliance for resilient landscapes featuring LPFN’s African Landscape Action Plan.

Those interested in contributing to the discussion can submit articles addressing the following questions (and more) relating to the topic:

• What are the conditions for success in large-scale initiatives?
• What are the incentives for investment from government, the private sector and farmers?
• What institutional arrangements and governance mechanisms are necessary for implementing large-scale programs (especially related to social equity)?

For more information, visit: http://wle.cgiar.org/blogs/2014/11/26/conditions-successful-large-scale-land-interventions/