Data and R-scripts for "Identifying leverage points for a sustainable land-use transformation in a a global biodiversity hotspot" (V1)

Transformations towards sustainable land systems require leverage points where land-use policies can benefit people and nature. Here, we present a novel approach that identifies and evaluates leverage points along land-use trajectories, which explicitly incorporate path dependency. We apply the approach in the biodiversity hotspot Madagascar, where smallholder agriculture results in a land-use trajectory reaching from old-growth forests via forest fragments and vanilla agroforests to shifting cultivation. Integrating interdisciplinary empirical data on biodiversity, ecosystem functions and agricultural productivity, we assess trade-offs and co-benefits at three leverage points along the trajectory. We find that leverage points are path-dependent: two leverage points target the transformation of old-growth forests and forest fragments to other land uses and result in considerable trade-offs. In contrast, one leverage point allows for the transformation of land under shifting cultivation into agroforests and offers clear co-benefits. Incorporating path-dependency is essential to identify leverage points for sustainable land-use transformations.