One of the main guidelines of the global environmental agenda is lowering the ecological footprint for food production. Part of this challenge is associated with vast areas of degraded pasture. In Brazil, 70 percent of the total pasture area used by livestock is diagnosed as degraded, representing 118.3 million hectares. Some strategies can be used to reverse this scenario. One of these is a transition process for a sustainable agro-ecological productions system, such as Silvopastoral Systems (SPS). As a case study it was chosen a tropical landscape in a mountainous region in the southeast of Brazil. It has low potential for mechanization, which decreases its competitiveness in agribusiness, contributing for a long period of social, environmental and economic decline, especially after the 1950 s. This paper aims to evaluate SPS as a strategic tool for the recovery of degraded lands in the Paraibuna River Basin (BHRP), considering the three dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. We surveyed data from six grass-fed cattle farms: two of degraded monoculture pasture (DMP); two of productive monoculture pasture (PMP); and two of productive Silvopastoral System (PSPS). A set of indicators was developed and used to evaluate principles and goals that guide the transition from conventional production systems to sustainable systems. The results presented a gradual scale of sustainability evolution among all production system surveyed such as PPSP (0.75) PMP (0.61) DMP (0.42), in social, environmental and economic aspects, with 0.7 being the breakeven score for sustainability and 1.0 the maximum. In this way, this research presents the high potential of SPS as a strategic tool to recover the three dimensions of sustainability in degraded lands, being the main benefits, a better: production practices adoption; soil productive capacity; landscape diversification; native vegetation; health and safety at work; profitability and security of investment; and diversification income.