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1st draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework released
On 12 July 2021, the 1st draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework debuted. This comes ahead of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in October, to develop the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. With 21 action targets [...] read more
On the misuse of nature-based carbon ‘offsets’
Nature-based solutions (NbS*) are being misused for greenwashing. Promoting NbS as carbon 'offsets' while continuing business as usual in fossil fuel use is not a solution to climate change. In fact, it can encourage continued or even increased fossil fuel consumption leading to more emissions o [...] read more

Assessing People’s Values of Nature: Where Is the Link to Sustainability Transformations?

Stålhammar 2021 In the context of ecosystem service research, there has been an increasing focus on measuring social and cultural values, beyond biophysical assessments. To that end, there has been growing interest in applying non-monetary methods to capture non-material social and cultural aspects of benefits in ecosystems. However, as Sanna Stålhammar’s perspective article highlights, there is [...] Read more
May 5, 2021

Biodiversity and the challenge of pluralism

Pascual et al. 2021 Biodiversity is often defined in the scientific community as the diversity of life at the level of genes, species, functions and ecosystems. However, Pascual et al. explain that the way biodiversity is understood by scientists is not value-neutral. There are in fact many different ways of understanding living nature; this means it [...] Read more
May 5, 2021

The economic consequences of conserving or restoring sites for nature

Bradbury et al. 2021 This paper compared the economic costs and benefits of conserving or restoring habitats, with those of alternative land uses. The economic consequences of conservation or restoration was assessed in terms of value of ecosystem services across 62 sites. The benefits from conservation/restoration were divided into private benefits (i.e. excludable benefits: private goods, [...] Read more
May 5, 2021

The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction

Reguero et al. 2021 This study assessed the value of coral reefs in the US for reducing flooding by modelling the effects of losing the top one metre of coral reefs across 3100 km of coastline. This level of vertical reef loss is possible over coming decades if threats to the reefs are not mitigated [...] Read more
May 5, 2021

Why efforts to address climate change through nature-based solutions must support both biodiversity and people

In an essay published by the Royal Society, NbSI Director Nathalie Seddon describes the potential of working with nature to address the causes and consequences of climate change and discusses why NbS must be designed, implemented and adaptively managed by or in partnership with local communities to provide measurable benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem health. [...] Read more
March 1, 2021

Evaluating nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and conservation requires comprehensive carbon accounting

Keith et al. 2021 Whilst the science is clear that nature-based solutions have high potential for contributing to climate change mitigation, there remains uncertainty and confusion as to how to estimate this potential for a given project. This paper highlights that carbon accounting has often missed important aspects of the carbon cycle, and has predominantly focused [...] Read more
February 12, 2021

Transdisciplinary science for improved conservation outcomes

Margules et al. 2020 Although the goals of conservation are clear, there is still much progress to be made on how to achieve those goals, balancing local aspirations with environmental values. One of the overarching reasons has been that conservation has often overlooked the complex social, economic, and political context in which conservation actions take place. [...] Read more
February 12, 2021

Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits

Di Sacco and Hardwick et al. 2021 Over the past year a growing number of tree planting pledges have been made and projects initiated, most often motivated by contributing to climate change mitigation. Such investments in nature are welcomed by the nature-based solutions community, and if well designed and implemented they should contribute significantly to carbon [...] Read more
February 12, 2021

Getting the message right on nature-based solutions

The role of nature-based solutions (NbS) in tackling the climate and nature crises has gained the world’s attention. They were high on the agenda at the World Economic Forum and the Climate Adaptation Summit last week, and will continue to be a central topic of discussion in the wake of COVID-19 and in the run-up [...] Read more
February 1, 2021

The economic costs of planting, preserving, and managing the world’s forests to mitigate climate change

Austin et al. 2020 It is now well established that forest protection, restoration, management and creation play a crucial role in mitigating climate change. This paper estimates the costs of such actions, and the amount of forest-based climate change mitigation that could be funded by different carbon prices. They find that a carbon price of $281 [...] Read more
December 10, 2020

Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity

Grantham et al. 2020 The effects of human activities on forests goes beyond deforestation – forests that are still standing are often disturbed by humans as well. This study generated a global map of forest condition, using an index of forest integrity on a continuous scale from 0 to 1. The forest integrity index acts as [...] Read more
December 10, 2020

Climate reverses directionality in the richness–abundance relationship across the World’s main forest biomes

Madrigal-González et al. 2020 It is critical that forest restoration is informed by the best possible science, to maximise carbon storage and other benefits over the long term. There are two competing hypotheses about whether the number of tree species or tree abundance is more important for maximising forest carbon storage. This study tested these hypotheses [...] Read more
November 30, 2020

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