731 results found

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  Indigenous stewards of nature

  This article tells the story of five indigenous individuals who are using their rich local knowledge, accumulated over generations, for adapting to the changing climate. Traditional practices described include: – Digging small pits, and filling them with compost, manure and seeds before the rainy season begins, to help trap water and improve soil fertility (e.g. […]

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  Green commitments from big business?

  The first four months of 2020 have seen a rise in notable commitments from big businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in some cases stem biodiversity loss. Amazon announced their $100 million Right Now Climate Fund in 2019, which aims to restore and conserve forests, wetlands and peatlands for carbon storage. The fund’s first […]

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  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 […]

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  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 […]

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  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 […]

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  Open letter to global leaders: a healthy planet for healthy people

  The Club of Rome have written an open letter to global leaders, calling for the response to the current global health and financial crises to address the other crises we are facing in concert: the biodiversity and climate crises. The signatories recognise that attempts to stimulate the economy in the recovery from COVID-19 could involve […]

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  Workshop: NbS in Bangladesh’s development policy

  The International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCAD) in Bangladesh, which is supported by the Nature-based Solutions Initiative, held a workshop with the Bangladesh Planning Commission to discuss the role of nature-based solutions (NbS) in national development plans. The workshop formally introduced the concept of NbS to relevant government departments, and stimulated discussion of […]

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  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 […]

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  Briefing Paper: The Role of Land in Achieving Net Zero

  We co-authored a briefing paper for the Net Zero Network looking at the contribution of nature-based solutions and other aspects of land use to achieving net-zero emissions in the UK. Key points include: 1) Nature-based solutions can be used to increase the size of natural carbon stores and keeping existing stores intact. This is alongside […]

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  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 […]

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  Carbon Brief tree planting Q&A – NbSI director interviewed

  We talked to Carbon Brief about tree planting in the UK.  If the UK government’s tree-planting targets are achieved, even with optimistic estimates of carbon sequestration they would only provide a small proportion of the total carbon capture required to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) predicts that (with a […]

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  NbSI Director BBC interview on UK tree planting

  David Shukman, Science Editor at the BBC, spent a few hours in Wytham Woods talking to Nathalie Seddon about the recent surge of public and media interest in tree-planting. The resulting article specifically looks at UK tree planting targets and raises some valid concerns: 1) The workforce for tree planting at the scale envisaged by […]

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  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 […]

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  Global Biodiversity Framework

  The initial draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework was released in January; the document is expected to be finalised at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October this year. The framework presents five goals for 2050, each with their own 2030 targets for: net loss and ecosystem […]

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  UK Government Budget 2020

  The UK government disclosed this year’s budget on the 11th March. It includes increases in spending in biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Notable commitments include: – £640m Nature for Climate Fund to restore 35,000 hectares of peatland and plant 30,000 hectares of trees (an area about the size of Birmingham) in England […]

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  4 countries have submitted updated NDCs

  This year, countries have the chance to submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with new targets for how they will contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement. Although the informal deadline for submission of updated NDCs was 9th February 2020, to date, only four countries have submitted new documents: Norway, the Marshall Islands, Moldova, […]

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  Absolute Zero Report

  This report summarises actions required to deliver net-zero emissions in the UK by 2050, without the emergence of not-guaranteed new technologies. The authors calculated that this would require much more drastic actions than suggested by government bodies such as the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). For example, all airports would need to be closed between […]

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  NbS to Climate Change Key messages for decision makers in 2020 and beyond

  A letter to Rt Hon Alok Sharma M to consider some clear definitions and guiding principles around NbS and their implementation that should ensure they benefit the climate, nature and people

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  Restoring Appalachian coal mines

  Strip mining and later mountaintop-removal for coal has caused widespread destruction of native forest in Appalachia, USA, over the past decades. Around 1.5 million acres have been ‘restored’, but rather than natural forests returning, the land is covered in degraded grassland, dominated by invasive plant species. However, some areas were re-planted with trees; this not […]

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  Malaysia’s forgotten ecosystem: peatland

  Whilst halting loss of tropical forest in Malaysia is clearly a global priority, the 1.54 million hectares of remaining peat swamp attract less media attention. Peatlands are the most carbon-rich terrestrial ecosystem per unit area, and so from a climate change mitigation perspective, preserving them is vital. However, Malaysia’s peat swamps are under threat from […]

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  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 […]

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  Ecosystem-based tsunami mitigation for tropical biodiversity hotspots

  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 […]

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  NbSI discusses Nature-based Solutions with MPs in Westminster

  Together with Oxford colleagues, Michelle Cain and Michael Obersteiner, Nat Seddon took part in a roundtable meeting at the Palace of Westminster to discuss “Achieving Net Zero: The Role of Land” with the Net Zero All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). Over the course of two hours, they discussed policy and science issues on what it will […]

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  Mobilizing up-scaling of Nature-based Solutions for climate change throughout 2020 and beyond

  There is growing global consensus on the importance of addressing climate change and biodiversity loss together. Promoting policy coherence, and broader alignment with sustainable development goals necessitates active collaboration across sectors. Recognizing the importance of this, the European Commission (DG ENV Biodiversity Unit) convened a 2-day workshop to stimulate knowledge exchange between approximately 70 partners […]

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  Urban trees in Wisconsin USA

  Trees have been shown to cause significant cooling in Madison, Wisconsin. Trees have a cooling effect due to reflecting more sunlight than darker surfaces, and the latent heat of  evaporation from leaves. The study showed that daytime air temperature decreased with increasing canopy cover; for example, increasing canopy cover from 0-100% corresponded with a decrease […]