Mapping Social Cohesion in Restoration Landscapes: Evidence from Western Rwanda

Social cohesion is increasingly recognized as essential for effective ecosystem restoration, yet it remains underexplored in practice. We mapped social relationships in restoration landscapes of Western Rwanda. Using Net-Map-based interviews and participatory workshops, we evaluated horizontal and vertical cohesion. Restoration approaches strengthened trust, collaboration, and communication within communities, key drivers of knowledge exchange and collective action, offering scalable models for advancing broader restoration initiatives in Rwanda and similar contexts. We also found weak community–government relationships driven by top-down governance, underscoring the need for inclusive, equitable restoration policies. For such inclusion to be meaningful, communities must be empowered to actively influence restoration decisions, which would likely foster sustainable, long-term outcomes. This study underscores the value of combining quantitative and narrative methods when using Net-Map to understand relationship quality and power dynamics among actors in socioecological restoration networks.