Nature-Based Solutions in the context of LAND4CLIMATE.
At its core, LAND4CLIMATE is about creating more space for nature in Europe’s landscapes. Research has shown that areas with healthy, intact ecosystems are more resilient and can better withstand and reduce the impacts of climate risks such as floods, heatwaves, droughts, and soil erosion.
Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are practical actions that work with nature to tackle environmental challenges while also benefiting people. In LAND4CLIMATE, this means measures like restoring rivers and wetlands, planting trees, greening paved areas, and turning overworked farmland into more diverse, sustainable landscapes.
These actions help store carbon, regulate water, cool urban areas, and provide habitats for wildlife, while making communities safer, healthier, and more enjoyable places to live.
What are Nature-based solutions?
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social, and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes, and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient, and systemic interventions. Nature-based solutions must therefore benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services.
Source: The European Commission
Understanding Climate Change and the Role of Nature-Based Solutions.
Why is our climate changing?
Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, large-scale deforestation, and intensive agriculture, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, causing global temperatures to rise. The effects include more frequent and intense heatwaves, floods, droughts, storms, and the loss of biodiversity.
Why are Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) important?
Healthy, intact ecosystems act as natural buffers against these impacts. Wetlands store excess water during floods, forests cool the air and store carbon, and diverse landscapes support pollinators and healthy soils. By restoring and protecting nature, we not only fight climate change but also improve quality of life, protect livelihoods, and enhance biodiversity.
How does LAND4CLIMATE implement NBS?
We work with communities and local authorities in Europe’s continental region to bring more nature back into landscapes. Examples include restoring rivers and wetlands, planting trees, turning paved areas into green spaces, and transforming intensively farmed land into diverse habitats. Each project is tailored to local needs, combining scientific knowledge with community input.
