LAYER 2: LANDSCAPES & JURISDICTIONS
Landscapes & Jurisdictions
Where planetary systems meet human activity – the places where outcomes happen.
IN THIS SECTION
In 30 Seconds
Layer 2 is where the physical meets the political. Specific geographies where ecosystems, communities, and economies intersect. Forests, farmland, watersheds, coastlines. The places where environmental outcomes actually happen.
Landscapes: Ecological and social units – watersheds, forest ecosystems, agricultural regions.
Jurisdictions: Political and administrative units – countries, provinces, municipalities, tenure systems.
Why it matters: Global targets mean nothing without local action. Every carbon credit, every supply chain claim, every nature commitment traces back to specific places with specific people.
Where This Fits
Landscapes & Jurisdictions is Layer 2 in our 5-layer sustainability model:
L2 is where MRV happens – Measurement, Reporting, Verification. The evidence base for every claim made at L3-L5 comes from ground-level data in specific landscapes. Without L2 integrity, everything above is conjecture.
What Layer 2 Includes
Physical Geography
The land itself
- • Forests – Tropical, temperate, boreal
- • Agricultural land – Cropland, pasture, agroforestry
- • Watersheds – River basins, aquifers, wetlands
- • Coastal zones – Mangroves, seagrass, coral reefs
- • Peatlands – Critical carbon stores
Communities & People
Those who live and work in landscapes
- • Smallholder farmers – Millions managing land daily
- • Indigenous peoples – Custodians of 80% of biodiversity
- • Local communities – Livelihoods, knowledge, rights
- • Producer cooperatives – Collective action, market access
- • Land managers – Foresters, ranchers, conservationists
Tenure & Rights
Who controls the land
- • Private ownership – Fee simple, leasehold
- • Communal tenure – Collective management
- • State land – Public forests, protected areas
- • Customary rights – Traditional, often unrecognised
- • Contested tenure – Overlapping claims, conflict
MRV Infrastructure
The evidence engine
- • Remote sensing – Satellite, drone, aerial
- • Ground-truth data – Field measurements, sampling
- • Community monitoring – Local data collection
- • Digital traceability – GPS, blockchain, sensors
- • Third-party verification – Auditors, certifiers
Landscape Approaches
Effective sustainability interventions increasingly recognise that project-level action isn't enough. Protecting one forest while the neighbouring forest is cleared doesn't solve the problem.
The Landscape Approach
A framework for managing land at scale, balancing competing land uses and stakeholder interests across a defined geography. Key principles:
- • Multi-stakeholder coordination – Government, business, community, NGO
- • Integrated land use planning – Not silos, but systems
- • Jurisdictional approaches – Working with administrative boundaries
- • Landscape coalitions – Pre-competitive collaboration
Examples: Cocoa forest initiatives (Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire), palm oil jurisdictional programmes (Indonesia), soy moratorium (Brazil), landscape-scale carbon projects.
Who Operates at L2
Producers
Primary land stewards
Farmers, foresters, ranchers, fishing communities
How do we get rewarded for stewardship?
Project Developers
Creating interventions
Carbon project developers, conservation NGOs, restoration companies
How do we scale impact while maintaining integrity?
Landscape Coalitions
Coordinating action
Multi-stakeholder platforms, jurisdictional initiatives
How do we align competing interests?
The Pandion View
Layer 2 is where sustainability gets real. Spreadsheet targets become field interventions. Policies become livelihoods. Data becomes evidence.
Every claim at L3-L5 depends on what happens in specific landscapes. The quality of MRV, the legitimacy of tenure arrangements, the inclusion of communities – these determine whether corporate commitments translate to real outcomes.
As a hybrid professional, we connect landscape realities to corporate strategy. We understand both the complexity of on-the-ground implementation and the requirements of boardroom decision-making. This bridge is where value is created – and where greenwashing is exposed.