Ensuring nature-based solutions support both biodiversity and climate change adaptation
New research examines whether nature-based solutions can deliver a win-win for biodiversity and climate change adaptation.
Our recent study reviewed the effects of nature-based interventions for climate change adaptation on different metrics of ecosystem health (such as the diversity of species, their population sizes, or soil and water quality). Most interventions with positive outcomes for climate change adaptation also reported measurable benefits for ecosystem health. However there was also evidence of some trade-offs between outcomes for climate and biodiversity, mainly resulting from interventions involving forest management and creation of novel ecosystems that are not designed according to the ecological context, or with biodiversity in mind.
The briefing, ‘Ensuring Nature-based Solutions support both biodiversity and climate change adaptation’, includes recommendations for policymakers:
- Ensure that nature-based climate policy always explicitly supports biodiversity and ecosystem health.
- Design targets for NbS commitments, including within NDCs, that cover a wide range of aspects of ecosystem health, rather than using simplistic targets such as forest extent or measuring single benefits such as carbon storage.
- Initiate transformative change across sectors to address direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss which is essential for the sustainability of NbS.
Research, practice and policy communities need to work together, and with local communities, to improve the design, monitoring and management of NbS so that they deliver clear benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem health alongside climate goals.
Read the full briefing for key findings, and further policy and practice recommendations on how to improve understanding and delivery of better ecosystem health outcomes of NbS.
The briefing is based on the findings of:
Key, I., Smith, A., Turner, B., Chausson, A., Girardin, C., MacGillivray, M., Seddon, N. (2021). Can nature-based solutions deliver a win-win for biodiversity and climate change adaptation? Preprints 2021, 2021100336 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202110.0336.v1)
For queries, please contact: Professor Nathalie Seddon, corresponding author.
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