NBS & COASTAL RESILIENCE

HOW CAN NBS CONTRIBUTE TO COASTAL RESILIENCE

Published in 2017

Excerpts from: EKLIPSE report: An impact evaluation framework to support planning and evaluation of nature-based solutions projects
(p.17-19 of the report)

Coastal areas occupy only a small proportion of the Earth’s total land area, but contain more than one third of its population (Barbier, 2013) and supply a multitude of ecosystem services that provide widely acknowledged ecological, economic and social benefits. The equilibrium of coastal ecosystems is threatened, especially by urban development (Bell, 1997), and NBS are being increasingly used in maintaining or restoring some of the key ecosystem services provided by coastal areas. NBS can increase coastal resilience by protecting communities against extreme events such as storms and stabilizing shorelines against water erosion (Gedan et al., 2011). Furthermore, the use of multifunctional NBS in coastal areas can provide a range of other economic and cultural values (Narayan et al., 2016).

Potential actions related to coastal resilience: 

  • Use NBS against coastal storms and sea level rises (Yepsen et a., 2016) and protect the population from these risks in combination with engineered structures (Stark et al., 2016).
  • Promote various NBS in coastal areas that can maintain or restore valuable coastal ecosystems and coastal biodiversity (Barbier, 2013).
  • Integrate development and conservation objectives using a better quantification of ecosystem services (Piwowarczyk et al., 2013).

Expected impacts: 

  • Increased population and infrastructures protected by a cost‐effective creation of NBS (Cohen‐Shacham et al., 2016) and increased resilience of cities.
  • Better protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems including valuable species and habitats (Gedan et al., 2011).
  • Sustainable development of coastal regions and reduced conflicts over resources or land‐use (Narayan et al., 2016).
 

Access the full report online at: http://www.eklipse-mechanism.eu/apps/Eklipse_data/website/EKLIPSE_Report1-NBS_FINAL_Complete-08022017_LowRes_4Web.pdf

(Raymond, C.M., Berry, P., Breil, M., Nita, M.R., Kabisch, N., de Bel, M., Enzi, V., Frantzeskaki, N., Geneletti, D., Cardinaletti, M., Lovinger, L., Basnou, C., Monteiro, A., Robrecht, H., Sgrigna, G., Munari, L. and Calfapietra, C. (2017) An Impact Evaluation Framework to Support Planning and Evaluation of Nature-based Solutions Projects. Report prepared by the EKLIPSE Expert Working Group on Nature-based Solutions to Promote Climate Resilience in Urban Areas. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom)