As the world looks for long-lasting solutions to environmental challenges, nature-based solutions (NbS) are often presented as a promising pathway. A new study assessing the benefits to biodiversity from NbS in urban areas of the Global South aims to better understand how effectively these interventions address urban challenges. The study, published in Ecological Indicators, found that biodiversity is rarely the primary focus of NbS projects in urban areas. The researchers from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) explain in the paper that most projects prioritised societal benefits, such as flood control or heat reduction, over climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Ambiguity around nature-based solutions According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), nature-based solutions (NbS) are “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems” while addressing societal challenges, to deliver human well-being and biodiversity benefits. The term is relatively recent and Western in origin. “The government of India prefers the term ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’, a subset of NbS that engages directly with climate-related challenges,” says corresponding author Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Dean at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. Because the term NbS is not widely used in India, many initiatives go underreported, particularly in global research, he adds. Yet interest is growing, especially in urban adaptation and resilience, notes Aarathi Kumar of WRI India. Indian examples exist even if not labelled specifically as NbS, including multifunctional wetlands…This article was originally published on Mongabay
