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Role of NbS for Climate Change Adaptation in UK Policy
Just ahead of tomorrow's Climate Ambition Summit, this report considers the important role of nature-based solutions (NbS) in climate change adaptation policy for the UK and its fourteen overseas territories. The report was written by NbSI, in collaboration with WWF and RSPB; together we will work w [...] read more
NbS Digital Dialogues - panel session summaries
Earlier in 2020 we held a series of talks and panel sessions - NbS Digital Dialogues - bringing together experts from science, policy and practice to discuss the implementation of sustainable NbS. Over 750 people tuned into the conference live, and recordings of all the sessions are available to vie [...] read more

Local People’s Participation in Mangrove Restoration Projects and Impacts on Social Capital and Livelihood: A Case Study in the Philippines

Valenzuela et al. 2020 Participatory management of mangrove restoration projects by local People’s Organisations in two communities in Quezon, Philippines, has been shown to provide substantial benefits for the people involved as well as increasing long-term sustainability of the restoration projects themselves. Members of People’s Organisations increased their social capital by gaining more numerous and more [...] Read more
August 24, 2020

Climate change mitigation potential of wetlands and the cost-effectiveness of their restoration

Taillardat et al. 2020 Although inland and coastal wetlands are highly efficient sinks of carbon dioxide, they also release methane – another carbon-containing greenhouse gas. Hence, wetlands can in some cases draw down carbon and yet have a net warming effect on the climate due to methane release. This means that restoration, protection and management of [...] Read more
August 24, 2020

Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests

Philipson et al. 2020 Over half of tropical forests have been degraded by human activities, such as timber harvesting, reducing carbon storage and biodiversity value, and making them more vulnerable to conversion to agriculture. This paper investigates the effect of natural regeneration and active restoration of degraded forests on recovery of carbon stocks in Sabah, Malaysia; [...] Read more
August 24, 2020

Saving the Sundarbans from development

Mukul et al. 2020 A 6 km-long bridge is being built in Bangladesh. This will increase connectivity across the country, and has already prompted development in the south-western Khulna Division. This region is home to the largest mangrove forest in the world: the Sundarbans. These mangroves are already under pressure from human activities, but the growth [...] Read more
June 17, 2020

Financial valuation of wetland ecosystem services in Nepal

Thapa et al. 2020 This study estimated the financial value of ecosystem services from the Begnas Watershed System, which covers 49 sq km in the mid-hills of Nepal. The authors found that the wetland generated US$3.91 million annually, equating to US$651 per household, and US$800 per hectare. 85% of the total value was attributed to recreational [...] Read more
May 13, 2020

Multi-dimensional well-being associated with economic dependence on ecosystem services in deltaic social-ecological systems of Bangladesh

Adams et al. 2020 This paper investigates the relationship between ecosystem services and poverty in the south and south-west coastal zone of Bangladesh. To account for the complex nature of poverty, the authors used two different poverty measures: material poverty (inability of a household to meet the cost of basic needs), and life satisfaction (head of [...] Read more
April 21, 2020

Protecting wetlands for people: Strategic policy action can help wetlands mitigate risks and enhance resilience

Endter-Wada et al. 2020 The authors of this paper propose national wetland commissions to coordinate protection, management and restoration of wetlands across national, regional and state borders. The wetland commission could be modeled on river and lake commissions, which have facilitated cooperatation, and brought together technical expertise and funding to enable management of water resources across boundaries. [...] Read more
April 16, 2020

Coffee agroforestry systems capable of reducing disease-induced yield and economic losses while providing multiple ecosystem services

Cerda et al. 2020 Agroforestry is a nature-based approach to agricultural production, with great potential for providing sustainable food security. This study looks at ecosystem services and disease in 61 smallholder coffee plots in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The authors found the six coffee agroforestry systems with the most promise for reducing losses to disease, whilst providing [...] Read more
April 14, 2020

Achieving cost‐effective landscape‐scale forest restoration through targeted natural regeneration

Crouzeilles et al. 2020 This paper quantifies the potential for natural regeneration across deforested areas of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. By identifying socioeconomic and environmental factors that correlate with areas that regenerated naturally between 1996 and 2015, the authors identified 21.6 million hectares of land in the Atlantic Forest region that are likely to be suitable [...] Read more
March 27, 2020

The Global Flood Protection Benefits of Mangroves

Menendez et al. 2020 This paper estimates the economic value of mangrove forests for flood mitigation at the highest resolution to-date – for every 20km of mangrove coastline globally. The authors find that mangroves provide over $65 billion in flood protection, and prevent 15 million people from being flooded every year. Loss of mangroves worldwide would [...] Read more
March 19, 2020

Key reasons why tree planting so often fails

Duguma et al. 2020 World Agroforestry This paper provides a detailed overview of the major underlying challenges for successful forest and woodland restoration. The authors highlight 5 key challenges: 1) Performance indicators for forest restoration projects are often the number of trees planted or the area covered – this does not account for the fact that many [...] Read more
March 13, 2020

Working on the boundaries — How do science use and interpret the nature-based solutions concept?

Hanson et al. 2020 Over the last decade, ‘nature-based solutions’ (NbS) has emerged as a key concept in environmental science. This article assesses a range of factors to better understand how the concept works at the interface of science and policy. The authors conducted a structured, qualitative review of 112 scientific peer-reviewed publications using the term NbS. They [...] Read more
March 4, 2020

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