Here we feature peer-reviewed papers about, or highly relevant to, Nature-based Solutions. Each month we will be highlighting key studies, but please check out our online NbS evidence platform and bibliography for a comprehensive list.
Wanger et al. 2020
Tsunamis have claimed over 260,000 lives this last century, making them the most deadly of natural hazards. In 2018, a tsunami devastated the Indonesian city of Palu and in response the government is planning to build a 7km long, 3.2m high sea wall. This paper suggests a hybrid coastal protection strategy for [...] Read more Tweet February 27, 2020
Tew et al. 2019
Cultural ecosystem services are recognised as important, but are notoriously difficult to define, measure and assign value to. This study of Thetford forest in the east UK uncovered the relationship between cultural values and land management practices, whilst controlling for the influence of landscape features, such as rivers and roads. The authors [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Nalau et al. 2018
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is the preferred approach for adapting to climate change in the least developed and developing countries, in part because it has the capacity to address adaptation of both ecosystems and livelihoods simultaneously. This review paper looks at existing literature on the constraints on EbA use, categorised into: economic constraints, [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Tagesson et al. 2020
This paper used satellite data on land cover and a dynamic global vegetation model to estimate the impact of human land use and land cover changes (LULCC) on the contribution of different habitat types to the terrestrial carbon sink between 1992 and 2015. The authors found that tropical and boreal forests contributed [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Armitage et al. 2019 Conservation Science and Practice
It is well established that Nature-based Solutions are often more effective if they are designed and implemented in a way that aligns with the perspectives and needs of local stakeholders. Community-centred conservation follows the same principle and some of the research in this area can be applied to [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Griscom et al. 2020 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
This paper looks at the potential for natural climate solutions (NCS; a type of nature-based solution) for mitigating climate change in 79 tropical countries. 12 different NCS pathways were defined, split broadly into protection, management and restoration across multiple habitat types (savannahs, farmland, wetland and [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Hobbie and Grimm 2020 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
This paper reviews current evidence for how Nature-based Solutions can be used to reduce the vulnerability of cities to climate change. The authors give an overview of how certain features of cities amplify climatic hazards, such as the concentration of settlements around rivers and coasts [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Osuri et al. 2019
This study looked at the difference in C storage and rate of C sequestration between longer-lived plantations and natural forests, using 2000-2018 data on Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from a natural experiment in the Western Ghats of India. C stocks in monodominant teak and Eucalyptus plantations were 30-50% lower than in evergreen [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020
Bonnesoeur et al (2019) Forest Ecology and Management
This paper is a synthesis of 155 studies on the effects of afforestation (tree-planting on naturally non-forested land) in the Andes on hydrology, erosion and landslide reduction. In contrast to public perception in the Andes, the review found that, overall, non-native tree plantations, and to a lesser extent [...] Read more Tweet January 13, 2020
van der Jagt et al (2019) Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
To build a sustainable world, transformation across many sectors is required and technology is thought to play a major enabling role. This has prompted the development of the Technological Innovation System framework, which focuses on the relationship between the social and technological systems. In this [...] Read more Tweet January 13, 2020