Nature-based solution
Action involving ecosystems that addresses societal challenges while supporting human wellbeing and biodiversity.
Example
Restoring a wetland can contribute to flood management and habitat recovery.
The catch
Poorly designed interventions can harm local livelihoods or ecological diversity.
Related terms
Biodiversity, Ecosystem, Wetland, Afforestation, Blue carbon, Carbon sink
In more depth
Nature-based solution, explained.
The biodiversity condition separates a nature-based solution from planting trees for carbon alone. A plantation of a single fast-growing species on former grassland may store carbon while destroying the habitat it replaced, and that fails the test. Well-designed examples include mangrove restoration that buffers coasts from storm surges and urban trees that cool streets during heatwaves.
On the climate side, ecosystems can store carbon, yet fire, drought and land-use change can release it again. Permanence is a real limit. IPCC assessments treat such measures as a complement to deep cuts in fossil emissions. Describe the specific ecosystem and outcome, and say who decided on it, because the label alone guarantees nothing.