Plant use and management are manifestations of the strong interlinkages between communities and ecosystems, acting as a fundamental element of local biocultural traditions and livelihoods.  Across the tropics, a wide diversity of plants are managed for subsistence and commercial purposes within a range of systems, from natural ecosystems to agroforestry and agricultural areas. 

Under current and future scenarios of global change, sustainable plant use and management can contribute to halt ecosystem loss, as it provides incentives for the conservation of natural ecosystems and species, while also contributing to the maintenance of associated traditional knowledge, strengthening local communities governance and livelihoods, and encouraging the appropriation of knowledge. In addition, useful plants can be incorporated in other nature based solutions implemented such as ecological restoration and green infrastructure.

Advancing on the sustainability of plant use and management requires the application of multiple approaches and interdisciplinarity to address the ecological, social and economical conditions that promote the conservation of species and associated knowledge, and in certain cases scaling the production and commercialization of products, while proposing viable and durable alternatives of the value chains. 

In this symposium we will present both applied research as well as partnerships between different sectors that seek to strengthen the conditions that enable the sustainable use of natural ecosystems products and agrobiodiversity.