Indicators for equitable restoration of commons through invasive species removal in central India

Restoration of natural ecosystems often aims to benefit both people and nature by improving ecosystem function and supporting sustainable production and livelihoods. Lantana camara is a prolific invader of tropical dry forests, fallows and pasture lands that serve as common pool resources for indigenous people and local communities. Socially equitable restoration in L. camara affected areas needs accessible methods to map and monitor the species’ spread and integration of socio-economic data in planning. We developed an algorithm to detect and monitor L. camara in non-forested commons of a tropical dry forest-agricultural landscape in central India. To guide restoration planning, we mapped the extent of L. camara across land tenures and developed a spatially explicit indicator, the Resource Access Stress Index (RASI), that combined L. camara classification output with socio-economic variables. Of the three remotely-sensed products we analyzed (Landsat-8, Sentinel-2 & -1 and Planet Basemaps), Sentinel-2 (& Sentinel-1) yielded the most accurate classification of L. camara (user’s accuracy 93% and producer’s accuracy 91%) and distinguished it from regenerating vegetation with similar spectral signatures to L. camara . Of the total L. camara affected area, 74% was in commons under government ownership (39% forest land and 35% Revenue Department), while 12% was within private land. The RASI categorized 48 of 491 villages as most stressed and demonstrated inclusion of locally relevant variables in restoration prioritization. This study advances open-access approaches and indicators to monitor and prioritize restoration of commons impacted by invasive plants and shows how global restoration goals can be locally contextualized. • Sentinel2 better classified Lantana in non-forest commons than Landsat-8 and Planet basemaps • Best time window to select imagery for Central India is October-November • Most Lantana cover was under government land tenure which includes de jure commons • Possible to monitor restoration of commons using open source data and tools