Bibliography
Welcome to our interactive bibliography. Here you can explore publications relating to Nature-based Solutions and their potential to address societal challenges, including climate change adaptation & mitigation, disaster risk reduction, ecosystem health, food & water security, and human wellbeing & development. For papers and other outputs directly produced by the Nature-based Solutions Initiative please visit our outputs page.
Filter
711 publications found
-
Local food production in a subarctic Indigenous community: the use of willow (Salix spp.) windbreaks to increase the yield of intercropped potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and bush beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (2018). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2017.1400713Abstract
Addressing food security with local and sustainable food production is a key requirement for supporting a globally sustainable agricultural system. Food insecurity is prevalent in Indigenous communities in Canada, especially in rural and remote regions of northern (subarctic and arctic) Canada. Further, climate change has disproportionately impacted subarctic and arctic regions worldwide − surface air temperatures are now more favourable for agricultural activities − offering the potential for local food production under ambient conditions. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) intercrops grown over a two-year period in two sites (treed, windbreak-lined with native willow, Salix. spp.; and non-treed, or open) in the subarctic Indigenous community of Fort Albany First Nation, Ontario, Canada. Intercrops grown in the windbreak-lined site produced significantly greater (p < 0.05) yields and biomass than the open site. An analysis of soil chemistry (pH, P, K, Mg, NO3, NH4 and total N) showed that with some local amendments such as offal and bone meal, both the windbreak-lined and open sites can support continued agricultural use. This study informs Indigenous communities across subarctic regions of the world that climate change not only brings challenges, but also opportunities, such as potentially sustainable local food production.
Ecosystem-based adaptationNature-based agricultural systemsClimate change adaptationFood and water securityArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialThe effect of application of organic manures and mineral fertilizers on the state of soil organic matter and nutrients in the long-term field experiment
Journal of Soils and Sediments (2018). Original Research.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11368-018-1933-3Abstract
Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in terrestrial ecosystems and agroecosystems. Changes in the agricultural sector in the Czech Republic within the past 25 years have had a negative impact on SOM content and contribute to gradual soil degradation. The aim of this study is to estimate the effect of long-term application of different mineral fertilizers (NPK) and organic manures (manure, cattle slurry) on soil chemical properties (quality of humus, available nutrients, and soil reaction). Soil samples were collected from Luvisol during two selected periods 1994–2003 and 2014–2016 from long-term field experiment carried out in Prague-Ruzyně (Czech Republic). Average annual temperature is 8.5 °C, and annual precipitations are 485 mm. Different fertilization regimes have been applied for 62 years. The crop rotation was as follows: cereals (45%), root crops (33%) and legumes (22%). Soil analysis—soil organic carbon (SOC) was determined by oxidimetric titration method. Short fractionation method for evaluation of humic substance (HS), humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) content was used. Absorbance of HS in UV-VIS spectral range was measured by Varian Carry 50 Probe UV-VIS spectrometer. Degree of humification (DH) and color index (Q4/6) were calculated from fractional composition data. Soil reaction was measured by potentiometric method. Available nutrients (phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium) were determined by Mehlich II and Mehlich I methods and by ICP-OES. For data analysis, the following are used: exploratory data analysis, ANOVA, and principal component analysis (PCA). PCA analysis differentiated fertilizers into two categories: (1) variant NPK (lower quality of humus)—higher acidity, lower SOC and HS content, predomination of FA, higher DH and lower content of available nutrients; (2) variants with organic manures (higher quality of humus)—lower acidity, higher SOC and HS content, predomination of HA, middle DH, and high content of available nutrients. The main result of presented study is to give a synthesis of effect of different type of fertilizers on a sustainable organic matter management in arable soils, with respect to yields, food security and adaptation to predict climate changes. Long-term application of mineral fertilizers (NPK) without organic matter input can accelerate humus mineralization and soil quality degradation with all negative consequences such as (nitrogen leaching, higher availability of toxic element for plants, slow energy for soil microorganisms etc.). Application of organic fertilizers (manure and cattle slurry) helps to achieve the long-term stable yields while maintaining soil at optimum quality (long-term sustainable management with SOM). Principal component analysis is a useful tool for evaluation of soil quality changes.
Ecosystem-based mitigationNature-based agricultural systemsClimate change mitigationFood and water securityArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialEffect of species composition on ecosystem services in European boreal forest
Journal of Forestry Research (2018). Original Research.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11676-017-0576-3Abstract
Forest management in several boreal countries is strongly focused on conifers because they are more productive, the technical quality of their stems is better, and their wood fibers are longer as compared to broadleaves. Favoring conifers in forest management leads to simple forest structures with low resilience and diversity. Such forests are risky in the face of climate change and fluctuating timber prices. Climate change increases the vitality of many forest pests and pathogens such as Heterobasidion spp. and Ips typographus L. which attack mainly spruce. Wind damages are also increasing because of a shorter period of frozen soil to provide a firm anchorage against storms. Wind-thrown trees serve as starting points for bark beetle outbreaks. Increasing the proportion of broadleaved species might alleviate some of these problems. This study predicts the long-term (150 years) consequences of current conifer-oriented forest management in two forest areas, and compared this management with silvicultural strategies that promote mixed forests and broadleaved species. The results show that, in the absence of damages, conifer-oriented forestry would lead to 5-10% higher timber yields and carbon sequestration. The somewhat lower carbon sequestration of broadleaved forests was counteracted by their higher albedo (reflectance). Mixed and broadleaf forests were better providers of recreational amenities. Species diversity was much higher in mixed stand and broadleaf-oriented silviculture at stand and forest levels. The analysis indicates that conifer-oriented forest management produces rather small and uncertain economic benefits at a high cost in resilience and diversity.
Ecosystem-based adaptationEcosystem-based mitigationClimate change adaptationClimate change mitigationHuman well-being & developmentForestThe global flood protection savings provided by coral reefs
Nature Communications (2018). Original Research.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04568-zAbstract
Coral reefs can provide significant coastal protection benefits to people and property. Here we show that the annual expected damages from flooding would double, and costs from frequent storms would triple without reefs. For 100-year storm events, flood damages would increase by 91% to $US 272 billion without reefs. The countries with the most to gain from reef management are Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, and Cuba; annual expected flood savings exceed $400 M for each of these nations. Sea-level rise will increase flood risk, but substantial impacts could happen from reef loss alone without better near-term management. We provide a global, process-based valuation of an ecosystem service across an entire marine biome at (sub)national levels. These spatially explicit benefits inform critical risk and environmental management decisions, and the expected benefits can be directly considered by governments (e.g., national accounts, recovery plans) and businesses (e.g., insurance).
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcological restorationEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionMarineThinning increases tree growth by delaying drought-induced growth cessation in a Mediterranean evergreen oak coppice
Forest Ecology and Management (2018). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.11.030Abstract
The Mediterranean evergreen oak coppices of Southern Europe are increasingly vulnerable to drought because of both the ongoing climate change that increases drought length and intensity, and the lack of forest management that induces a structural aging of the stands. Decreasing stand density through thinning has been widely regarded as a means to improve the resistance of evergreen oak forests to climate change by decreasing the competition for water amongst the remaining stems. Data from a 30-years thinning experiment, that includes a control and four thinning intensity treatments (from 25% to 80% of basal area removed), in a coppiced holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) forest of southern France, was used to quantify the effects of thinning on stem growth. Building on the ‘sink limitation’ paradigm, which proposes that tree growth is controlled by phenology and climatic constraints and decoupled from carbon assimilation, we investigated if the effect of thinning on stem growth was explained by a delayed drought-induced growth cessation. Using a water balance model, we simulated the date of drought-induced growth cessation, previously found to correspond to the day of the year when water potential drops below a threshold of -1.1 MPa, and used it to predict growth in the different treatments of the thinning experiment. Thinning increased long-term growth at the stem level but decreased the wood biomass at the stand level. Decreasing stem density, and hence the leaf area index, was simulated to delay the date of drought-induced growth cessation. A growth model based on the date of growth cessation explained 85% of the effect of thinning on stem growth over the 30-year period of the study, and 95% for the first five years after thinning. The canopy density for which the effect of thinning is the most beneficial was found to maximize the growth duration without lifting completely the water limitation in summer. Moderate thinning had a sustained beneficial effect on the growth of all stem size classes, whereas stronger thinning intensities increased the size asymmetry of competition and their overall effect dropped faster. Our simple predictive model based on the simulation of the water balance as a function of stand density opens the way to providing management guidelines for the optimization of tree density as a function of water limitation in Mediterranean evergreen woodlands.
Ecosystem-based adaptationEcosystem-based mitigationNatural resource managementClimate change adaptationClimate change mitigationHuman well-being & developmentForestPine plantations and invasion alter fuel structure and potential fire behavior in a Patagonian forest-steppe ecotone
Forests (2018). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.3390/f9030117Abstract
Planted and invading non-native plant species can alter fire regimes through changes in fuel loads and in the structure and continuity of fuels, potentially modifying the flammability of native plant communities. Such changes are not easily predicted and deserve system-specific studies. In several regions of the southern hemisphere, exotic pines have been extensively planted in native treeless areas for forestry purposes and have subsequently invaded the native environments. However, studies evaluating alterations in flammability caused by pines in Patagonia are scarce. In the forest-steppe ecotone of northwestern Patagonia, we evaluated fine fuels structure and simulated fire behavior in the native shrubby steppe, pine plantations, pine invasions, and mechanically removed invasions to establish the relative ecological vulnerability of these forestry and invasion scenarios to fire. We found that pine plantations and their subsequent invasion in the Patagonian shrubby steppe produced sharp changes in fine fuel amount and its vertical and horizontal continuity. These changes in fuel properties have the potential to affect fire behavior, increasing fire intensity by almost 30 times. Pruning of basal branches in plantations may substantially reduce fire hazard by lowering the probability of fire crowning, and mechanical removal of invasion seems effective in restoring original fuel structure in the native community. The current expansion of pine plantations and subsequent invasions acting synergistically with climate warming and increased human ignitions warrant a highly vulnerable landscape in the near future for northwestern Patagonia if no management actions are undertaken.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcological restorationDisaster risk reductionGrasslandHow vegetation can aid in coping with river management challenges: A brief review
Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology (2018). Review.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2018.07.003Abstract
New sustainable, cost-effective solutions are urgently needed for river management since conventional practices have posed serious ecological threats on streams, rivers and the surrounding riparian areas. Besides addressing the societal needs e.g. for flood management, river management should increasingly address the ecosystem requirements for improved water quality and biodiversity. We argue that it is not feasible to solve existing and future river management challenges with intensive restoration projects. Instead, we believe that less resource-intensive solutions using natural channel processes and features, including vegetation, should be investigated. Besides directly supporting biota, aquatic and riparian vegetation traps, takes up and helps to process nutrients and harmful substances, and thus this paper emphasizes vegetation as a tool for nature-based solutions (NBS) in river management. We synthesize findings from key literature, showing that the fate of substances in channel systems is largely controlled by abiotic and biotic processes facilitated and modified by vegetation, including flow hydrodynamics, channel morphology, and sediment transport. Subsequently, we demonstrate how vegetation can be incorporated into channel designs, focusing on a two-stage (compound) design to improve resilience to flooding, control the transport of substances, and enhance the ecological status. As a conclusion, clever use and maintenance of vegetation present an unused potential to obtain large-scale positive environmental impacts in rivers and streams experiencing anthropogenic pressures.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcological restorationEcosystem-based adaptationNature-based solutions in generalClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionEcosystem healthFood and water securityWetlandAnalyzing ecological restoration strategies for water and soil conservation
Plos One (2018). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192325Abstract
The choice of areas for nature conservation involves the attempt to maximize the benefits, whether by carrying out an economic activity or by the provision of Ecosystem Services. Studies are needed to improve the understanding of the effect of the extent and position along the watershed of restored areas on soil and water conservation. This study aimed to understand how different restoration strategies might reflect in soil conservation and sediment retention. Using InVEST tool, sediment transport was simulated in a small 12 km2 watershed (Posses River, in Southeast Brazil), where one of first Brazilian Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) projects is being carried out, comparing different hypothetical restoration strategies. With 25% of restoration, sediment export decreased by 78% for riparian restoration, and 27% for the steepest slopes restoration. On the other hand, the decrease in soil loss was lower for riparian restoration, with a 16% decrease, while the steepest slopes restoration reduced it by 21%. This mismatch between the reduction of sediment export and soil loss was explained by the fact that forest not only reduces soil loss locally but also traps sediment arriving from the upper parts of the watershed. While the first mechanism is important to provide soil stability, decreasing the risk of landslip, and to maintain agricultural productivity, the second can improve water quality and decrease the risk of silting, with positive effects on the water reservoirs at the outlet of the watershed. This suggests that Riparian and the Steepest Slopes restoration strategies are complementary in the sense of preventing sediments from reaching the water bodies as well as protecting them at their origin (with the reduction of erosion), so it will be advisable to consider the two types of restoration.
Ecological restorationDisaster risk reductionFood and water securityForestNatural climate solutions for the United States
Science Advances (2018). Original Research.
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/11/eaat1869Abstract
Limiting climate warming to <2°C requires increased mitigation efforts, including land stewardship, whose potential in the United States is poorly understood. We quantified the potential of natural climate solutions (NCS)—21 conservation, restoration, and improved land management interventions on natural and agricultural lands—to increase carbon storage and avoid greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. We found a maximum potential of 1.2 (0.9 to 1.6) Pg CO2e year−1, the equivalent of 21% of current net annual emissions of the United States. At current carbon market prices (USD 10 per Mg CO2e), 299 Tg CO2e year−1 could be achieved. NCS would also provide air and water filtration, flood control, soil health, wildlife habitat, and climate resilience benefits.
Ecosystem-based mitigationClimate change mitigationArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialCoastlineForestGrasslandDoes forest cover help prevent flood damage? Empirical evidence from India
Global Environmental Change (2018). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.09.004Abstract
Floods in India are regular phenomenon that occurs in almost all parts of the country, causing significant damage to human lives, assets and ecosystem. Rapid change in weather patterns and decline in forest cover are considered to be the main reasons for frequent floods and associated damage to both human and natural system. Does forest cover help prevent frequent occurrences of flood and reduce flood related damages? Empirical evidences on the flood protective role of forest cover do not give a clear picture. While few studies find a strong link between forest cover and reduced flood incidence, several other studies from across the globe have challenged this traditional notion of the protective role of forest cover. The present study makes an attempt to examine the association between forest cover and flood damage using data from Indian states and the flood affected districts of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, taking into account the social, economic, climatic and infrastructural parameters. The findings suggest that forest cover tends to reduce the extent of flood damage and hence has the ability to protect human lives and properties during flood events. It is essential that mitigation and adaptation strategies are shaped in a way that promotes preservation and regeneration of forest resources. Hence, the present study suggests adoption of ecosystem-based adaptation measures along with traditional hard structure flood prevention measures in order to prevent flood related damages effectively.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionForestInvesting in Natural and Nature-Based Infrastructure: Building Better Along Our Coasts
Sustainability (2018). Perspective.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020523Abstract
Much of the United States’ critical infrastructure is either aging or requires significant repair, leaving U.S. communities and the economy vulnerable. Outdated and dilapidated infrastructure places coastal communities, in particular, at risk from the increasingly frequent and intense coastal storm events and rising sea levels. Therefore, investments in coastal infrastructure are urgently needed to ensure community safety and prosperity; however, these investments should not jeopardize the ecosystems and natural resources that underlie economic wealth and human well-being. Over the past 50 years, efforts have been made to integrate built infrastructure with natural landscape features, often termed “green” infrastructure, in order to sustain and restore valuable ecosystem functions and services. For example, significant advances have been made in implementing green infrastructure approaches for stormwater management, wastewater treatment, and drinking water conservation and delivery. However, the implementation of natural and nature-based infrastructure (NNBI) aimed at flood prevention and coastal erosion protection is lagging. There is an opportunity now, as the U.S. government reacts to the recent, unprecedented flooding and hurricane damage and considers greater infrastructure investments, to incorporate NNBI into coastal infrastructure projects. Doing so will increase resilience and provide critical services to local communities in a cost-effective manner and thereby help to sustain a growing economy.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionInfrastructure-related approachesDisaster risk reductionEcosystem healthFood and water securityHuman well-being & developmentCoastlineWetlandEcosystem-based Adaptation: A review of the constraints
Environmental Science and Policy (2018). Review.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.08.014Abstract
In the international climate policy arena, Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has become the preferred adaptation approach to climate change in the least developed and developing countries. Its perceived strength lies in the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both ecosystems and livelihoods simultaneously, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat from climate change. While EbA has certainly made progress as an adaptation approach, a lack of understanding still exists how EbA approaches contribute to ‘effective’ adaptation, including the circumstances where they face constraints and limits. Furthermore, implementation of EbA approaches ideally requires a level of understanding about ecosystem structure, productivity and dynamics, and how these are affected by climate change and other direct anthropogenic stressors, that are rarely available in developing countries. This paper aimed to synthesise the current knowledge in the emerging body of EbA specific literature on the kinds of constraints that hamper the use of EbA. Our analysis examined the following constraints: economic and financial, governance and institutional, social and cultural, knowledge constraints and gaps, and physical and biological constraints and limits. The identified constraints demonstrate the complexities in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating EbA and propose significant further areas of research, including the need to provide well-documented case studies of EbA, which crystallise the main lessons learned such as practical challenges in designing and implementing EbA projects and research programs.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationForest plantations and climate change discourses: New powers of ‘green’ grabbing in Cambodia
Land Use Policy (2018). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.057Abstract
Efforts to combat global climate change through forestry plantations designed to sequester carbon and promote sustainable development are on the rise. This paper analyses the trajectory of Cambodia´s first large-scale reforestation project awarded within the context of climate change mitigation. The 34,007 ha concession was formally conceived to promote sustainable resource use, livelihood improvements and emission reduction. On the ground, however, vast tracks of diverse forest landscapes are being cleared and converted to acacia monocultures, existing timber stocks are logged for market sale, and customary land users dispossessed from land and forest resources. While the project adds to an ongoing land grab crisis in Cambodia, we argue that the explicit environmental ends of the forestry concession enabled a ‘green grab’ that not only exceeds the scale of land grabs caused by conventional economic land concessions, but surprisingly also exacerbates forest logging and biodiversity loss in the area. This case demonstrates the extent to which current climate change discourses, forestry agendas and their underlying assumptions require critical revision in global policy discussions to forestall the growing problem of green grabbing in land use.
Not applicableClimate change mitigationEcosystem healthHuman well-being & developmentForestEcosystem-based disaster risk reduction in mountains
Earth-Science Reviews (2018). Review.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.12.011Abstract
Since the late 1960s it became clear that a more sustainable protection of people and property from the negative impacts of natural hazards will require a more balanced use of structural and non-structural measures, such as land-use planning and ecosystem-based solutions for disaster risk reduction, also called Eco-DRR. The most prominent example of Eco-DRR in mountainous regions are forests that protect people, settlements and infrastructures against gravitational natural hazards such as avalanches, landslides and hazards related to mountain torrents. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview on the influence of forests on risks induced by natural hazards and the associated challenges and uncertainties concerning risk analysis. Approaches from natural hazard risk are presented, along with recent results from forest research, thereby offering new ways to integrate forests into risk analysis. We discuss the potential effects of forests on the three important hazard components of the risk concept, namely the onset probability, the propagation probability and the intensity, and propose a set of guiding principles for integrating forests into quantitative risk assessment (QRA) for natural hazards. Our focus thereby lies on snow avalanches, rockfalls, floods, landslides, and debris flows. This review shows that existing methods and models for assessing forest effects on natural hazards suffice for integrating forests into QRA. However, they are mostly limited to the stand- or slope-scale, and further efforts are therefore needed to upscale these approaches to a regional level, and account for uncertainties related to forest effects and natural dynamics. Such a dynamic, rather than a static assessment of risk will finally allow for planning and implementing intelligent combinations of Eco-DRR and technical protection measures.
Not applicableDisaster risk reductionForestMontaneCan community-based adaptation increase resilience?
Climate and Development (2018). Original Research.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17565529.2016.1223595Abstract
A central claim of community-based adaptation (CBA) is that it increases resilience. Yet, the concept of resilience is treated inconsistently in CBA, obscuring discussion of the limitations and benefits of resilience thinking and undermining evaluation of resilience outcomes in target communities. This paper examines different participatory assessment activities carried out as part of CBA case studies in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands. The activities and their outputs were assessed against 10 characteristics of resilience previously identified in a systematic review. The findings offer support to the claim that CBA can build resilience in target communities, revealing the inherent strengths of CBA in relation to resilience. However, it is necessary for CBA assessments to simultaneously incorporate activities that consider cultural, political, economic and ecological factors influencing resilience within and between communities. This may demand multiple staff with different skills. The findings also highlight the importance of politics and power in shaping adaptive capacity. In particular, addressing the highly context specific nature of social, cultural and political relations demands an approach that is situated in and responsive to local realities. Overall, our case studies suggest that using the 10 characteristics as an analytical framework offers support to practitioners looking to develop, implement or evaluate CBA assessment activities. Yet within this, it is critical that a focus on increasing resilience through CBA does not preclude transformation in social relations. Realising the potential to support resilience and transformation requires CBA practitioners to acknowledge the multifaceted nature of resilience, whilst also paying close attention to multiple potential barriers to equitable adaptation.
Community-based adaptationClimate change adaptationHuman well-being & developmentArtificial Landscapes – AquaticAssessing the feasibility of integrating ecosystem-based with engineered water resource governance and management for water security in semi-arid landscapes: A case study in the Banas catchment, Rajasthan, India
Science of The Total Environment (2018). Original Research.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717322726Abstract
Much of the developing world and areas of the developed world suffer water vulnerability. Engineering solutions enable technically efficient extraction and diversion of water towards areas of demand but, without rebalancing resource regeneration, can generate multiple adverse ecological and human consequences. The Banas River, Rajasthan (India), has been extensively developed for water diversion, particularly from the Bisalpur Dam from which water is appropriated by powerful urban constituencies dispossessing local people. Coincidentally, abandonment of traditional management, including groundwater recharge practices, is leading to increasingly receding and contaminated groundwater. This creates linked vulnerabilities for rural communities, irrigation schemes, urban users, dependent ecosystems and the multiple ecosystem services that they provide, compounded by climate change and population growth. This paper addresses vulnerabilities created by fragmented policy measures between rural development, urban and irrigation water supply and downstream consequences for people and wildlife. Perpetuating narrowly technocentric approaches to resource exploitation is likely only to compound emerging problems. Alternatively, restoration or innovation of groundwater recharge practices, particularly in the upper catchment, can represent a proven, ecosystem-based approach to resource regeneration with linked beneficial socio-ecological benefits. Hybridising an ecosystem-based approach with engineered methods can simultaneously increase the security of rural livelihoods, piped urban and irrigation supplies, and the vitality of river ecosystems and their services to beneficiaries. A renewed policy focus on local-scale water recharge practices balancing water extraction technologies is consistent with emerging Rajasthani policies, particularly Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (‘water self-reliance mission’). Policy reform emphasising recharge can contribute to water security and yield socio-economic outcomes through a systemic understanding of how the water system functions, and by connecting goals and budgets across multiple, currently fragmented policy areas. The underpinning principles of this necessary paradigm shift are proven and have wider geographic relevance, though context-specific research is required to underpin robust policy and practical implementation.
Ecosystem-based managementFood and water securityHuman well-being & developmentWetland