Key messages

• Careful integration of indigenous and local knowledge in Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) is at the heart of successful FLR initiatives.
• Indigenous and local knowledge differs across cultures and places, and within communities based on gender, age, and other factors of social differentiation.
• To successfully incorporate indigenous and local knowledge in FLR planning and implementation, practitioners and policy makers should: 1) recognize the legitimacy and value of indigenous and local knowledge; 2) ensure diverse knowledge holders have equal voice and that their strategic interests are addressed; and 3) ensure that mobilizing indigenous and local knowledge generates culturally-desirable incentives and benefits to local and indigenous knowledge holders, rather than being an extractive exercise.