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Monitoring of nature infrastructure - Skill acquisition for Nature-based solutions
NBS Corner
The interaction between humans and ecosystems has been a constant and evolving process throughout history. People have relied on the services ecosystems provide, shaping those ecosystems to meet their needs or even creating entirely new ones. This interaction is evident across diverse landscapes, from forests, wetlands, and grasslands to coastal and urban areas. Traditional practices and gray infrastructure have often been employed to address large-scale challenges, offering immediate solutions. However, these approaches frequently come at the expense of sustainability and fail to provide long-term resilience, highlighting the need for more balanced and enduring strategies.
What is the alternative?
According to IUCN, Nature-based Solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, to provide both human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
What are the core ideas of NBS?
Nature-based Solutions are aimed at protection, restoration and management of ecosystems while solving some of the major societal challenges through knowledge transfer and involvement of multiple experts and local representatives.
Core ideas of NBS
| Inspired by nature | Facing societal challenges | Providing multiple benefits including biodiversity gain | Cost efficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature should be treated as a remedy rather than obstacle | Solving urgent issues such as climate change, natural hazards, food and water security, while providing opportunities for career development and opening new green jobs | Solutions should be designed in a way that helps both natural ecosystems and people that depend on them, with fair distribution of benefits | Actions under NBS should be technically feasible and economically viable |
Adapted from Sowińska-Świerkosz and García, 2022
What are the major societal challenges NBS address?
According to IUCN, the most pressing challenges NBS should aim to solve are:
- Climate change and adaptation
- Disaster risk reduction
- Economic and social development
- Human health
- Food security
- Water security
- Environmental degradation and biodiversity loss
How these challenges are prioritized in research and implementation varies globally through different regions (Dunlop et al., 2024).
What are ecosystem services?
Ecosystem services are benefits and gains humans get from natural functions and processes of ecosystems. According to Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), these services can be divided into four groups:
- Provisioning services: Products obtained from ecosystems, such as food, fiber and fresh water, including genetic resources.
- Regulating services: Benefits obtained from regulation of ecosystem processes such as pollination, water purification, and climate and disease regulation.
- Cultural services: Nonmaterial benefits obtained from ecosystems such as cultural heritage, inspiration, education and aesthetic values.
- Supporting services: Services necessary to produce all other ecosystem services, including soil formation, nutrient cycling and primary production.
One of desirable outcomes of NBS implementation is enhancing and preserving these valuable ecosystem services
Why is it important to involve multiple stakeholders?
One of the key characteristics of NBS are complexity and multifunctionality. Therefore, in such programs it is of crucial importance to ensure collaboration of diverse range of stakeholders to establish a holistic approach and consider various perspectives and expertise. Stakeholders such as local communities, government agencies, environmental organizations, scientists, and businesses all bring valuable knowledge and resources. Local communities bring firsthand experience and understanding of the issues, while governments can provide policy support and regulation. Environmental organizations and scientists offer technical expertise and research, while businesses can bring innovation and funding.
Communication and knowledge transfer between stakeholders is one of the central parts of NBS design and implementation
What are the potential barriers and points of caution when implementing NBS?
Implementing Nature-based Solutions (NBS) can offer numerous benefits, but there are several potential obstacles and points of caution that need to be addressed to ensure their effectiveness.
- Individuality of each case: It is important to note that each NBS project is unique, therefore it should be recognized there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but they all require a tailored approach. Every individual NBS project must be designed and implemented with consideration of the specific circumstances, as a solution applied to one ecosystem and community might not be suitable for another.
- Preservation of natural ecosystem properties: An important principle of implementing NBS is to respect properties and functions of ecosystems to not contradict their natural processes and lead to negative consequences. For instance, introducing invasive species or planting forests in areas that are naturally barren can disrupt local biodiversity or ecological balance.
- Effective communication with stakeholders: A well-designed communication strategy is essential for engaging stakeholders. It is important to understand target communities to ensure that communication does not become a barrier. Actively involving and listening to all stakeholders should be a suitable approach. Communication does not end with the implementation. NBS projects require ongoing monitoring and evaluation to assess their effectiveness and adapt to changing conditions. A transparent, continuous feedback between stakeholders is crucial for the long-term success and sustainability of the project.
- Exclusion criteria for NBS: Not all solutions can be classified as Nature-based Solutions. Solutions that fail to align with the core values of NBS, such as having negative impacts on biodiversity, offering benefits that are no better than traditional gray infrastructure, providing unequal distribution of benefits, or bearing financial costs disproportionate to the benefits, should not be considered as NBS. Ensuring that a project meets these criteria is vital for long-term success and avoiding unintended harmful consequences.
References:
Dunlop, T., Khojasteh, D., Cohen-Shacham, E., Glamore, W., Haghani, M., Van Den Bosch, M., Rizzi, D., Greve, P., & Felder, S. (2024). The evolution and future of research on Nature-based Solutions to address societal challenges. Communications Earth & Environment, 5(1).
IUCN (2020). Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. A user-friendly framework for the verification, design and scaling up of NbS. First edition. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: Synthesis. Island Press.
Mitincu, C., Niţă, M., Hossu, C., Iojă, I., & Nita, A. (2023). Stakeholders’ involvement in the planning of nature-based solutions: A network analysis approach. Environmental Science & Policy, 141, 69–79.
Nordic Guidance for Nature-based Solutions (2024), https://nbsguide.org/
Sowińska-Świerkosz, B., & García, J. (2022). What are Nature-based solutions (NBS)? Setting core ideas for concept clarification. Nature-Based Solutions, 2, 100009.
The four guidelines for Nature-based Solutions | Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change (2020), https://www.nbsguidelines.info/
This project is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe (Project SONATA GA 101159546)