Small-scale disturbances such as shifting cultivation, recurrent fires, and livestock grazing are pervasive in tropical working landscapes. The complex interplay between these apparently low-intensity disturbances and biodiversity responses remains poorly understood. This can lead to either negligence on their potential negative effects on biodiversity or prejudices against local communities who have coexisted with biodiversity for a long time. This symposium aims to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the ecological processes that shape biodiversity patterns in heterogeneous working landscapes, where different land-use practices coexist. By examining the impacts of small-scale disturbances, we seek to identify opportunities for sustainable land management that balances human needs with biodiversity conservation. Importantly, we will emphasize the need to avoid simplistic narratives that blame small-scale farmers for biodiversity loss or exempt traditional livelihoods from having an impact on long-term biodiversity conservation. Instead, we will highlight the insights accumulated from years of research on working landscapes, addressing effects of rural livelihoods on biodiversity and make recommendations to develop more nuanced and effective conservation strategies that promote both human well-being and ecosystem health. This symposium will bring together researchers working in different tropical forest landscapes and at different spatial scales (from local to global) to present new perspectives to inform pragmatic conservation and restoration strategies pursuing biodiversity and human-friendly landscapes. Topics will cover: biocultural restoration of working landscapes; The value of traditional ‘milpa’ to the conservation of birds, mammals, and bees in the Maya forest of Mexico; Impacts of recurrent fires in the Amazon and others.