The International Expert Meeting on Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) took place from 27-28 February 2002 in Heredia, Costa Rica. The meeting was hosted by the Governments of Costa Rica and the United Kingdom (UK), in collaboration with IUCN-The World Conservation Union, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-International), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and the Northeast Asian Forest Forum (NEAFF). The meeting was attended by approximately 60 participants, representing governments, universities and research institutions, and international and non-governmental organizations.

The purpose of the meeting was to present the FLR approach to a broader audience and engage them in the development and refinement of key concepts related to the implementation of FLR. The specific objectives of the meeting were to: increase understanding of FLR among forest experts and decision makers through an exchange of experiences and lessons learned; initiate a process for working with partners to refine and implement FLR concepts; and generate political commitment to and interest in pursuing FLR in specific countries and/ or regions and/or through the appropriate intergovernmental processes.

The meeting was divided into five sessions, on: the definition of FLR; stakeholder engagement at the landscape level; biophysical challenges; an enabling environment; and a framework for implementation. Each session was introduced with the presentation of a technical paper, followed by case study presentations and, in three of the sessions, discussions in break-out groups. The meeting was followed by a two-day field visit to Guanacaste, in northwest Costa Rica, where participants observed several stages of natural regeneration in the area's dry tropical forest and witnessed a controlled burn in the Santa Rosa National Park.