749 results found

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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 […]

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  Stormwater green infrastructure in the Mid-Atlantic USA

  Use of vegetation in urban areas in the Mid-Atlantic watersheds of Washington DC, Montgomery County and Baltimore County MD, has reduced flooding and nutrient runoff. The ‘stormwater green infrastructure’ in these municipalities includes green roofs, bioswales, rain gardens and stormwater ponds. By increasing infiltration and groundwater recharge, and/or evaporation, they reduce the volume of run-off […]

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  Peatland restoration in Belarus

  Balarus is leading the way for peat restoration in Europe. Peatlands cover about 23% of the country, but most of it is degraded or drained. The country’s peatlands have long been seen primarily as a resource for agriculture and energy, but since the 1990s efforts have been made to protect, restore, and sustainably use the […]

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  Forest regeneration in Ethiopia

  The township of Humbo in Ethiopia had lost most of its surrounding forests by the late 1960s, but a recent initiative is turning this around. 2700 hectares of degraded native forest have been restored since 2006 through a community-based project. The forest was regenerated using a method called farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) involving pruning, management […]

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  Restoring grassland in England

  The re-conversion of winter cereal fields into grassland contributed to the cessation of winter floods in a downstream housing estate in the South Downs of England. In the mid-1980s grassland in the catchment was converted into cereal crops, resulting in the soil holding less water and reducing the amount of rain required for flooding and […]

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  Mangrove protection in India

  Mangrove forests in eastern India were shown to protect villages and crops from flooding during a cyclone with 260km/hr winds and a 9m storm surge. The mangroves had been protected from deforestation and overexploitation since 1985. A comparison of inundation and damage between villages found that those further away from mangroves suffered more extensive damage […]

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  Rehabilitating rangelands in Kenya

  Land degradation is a widespread problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the majority of agricultural soil being degraded. One of the main causes of degradation is overgrazing, but this can be combated by use of enclosures for livestock. This involves dividing communal land into smaller sections where grazing is concentrated, either with physical fencing or social […]

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  Restoring ancient water supplies in Peru

  A community-based NbS project in the Peruvian Andes improved water provisioning whilst permitting grazing of livestock, and has sparked funding and interest in ecosystem-based water management in Peru. An ancient mamenteo canal was restored: a technology that predates the Incan Empire and diverts water from streams during the wet season, increasing infiltration in mountain slopes […]

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  Our letter to the new UNFCCC CoP26 president

  Together with a group of UK-based research, development and conservation organisations, we wrote a letter to the new CoP26 President, the Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, to ask him to consider some clear definitions and guiding principles around Nature-based Solutions and their implementation that should ensure they benefit the climate, nature and people, and to […]

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  Marshall Islands, Suriname, Norway update NDCs before informal 9 Feb Deadline

  Only three of the 197 Paris Agreement signatories have submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in time for the informal 9th February deadline. The Marshall Islands accounts for just 0.00001% of global emissions, and so focus on making Pacific Islands more resilient to climate change-induced storms and sea level rise rather than on mitigation. The […]