Investments in the environment are paying off for a California county where projects designed to restore the natural environment are also buffering the impacts of sea-level rise. Nature-based solutions can be as effective as concrete seawalls at protecting against sea-level rise, according to research published in June. Incentives for policymakers to prioritize nature-based solutions for sea-level rise are provided by those benefits.
Anne Guerry is the chief strategy officer and lead scientist at the Natural Capital Project. The models show how communities can benefit from investing more in nature.
Last year, Guerry co-authored a paper showing how traditional approaches to fighting sea-level rise can have a domino effect. The new research is the result of a partnership between San Mateo County, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, and the Natural Capital Project.
There are modeling solutions.
The researchers used input from stakeholder workshops and scientific explorations to model three scenarios for adapting to sea-level rise. Concrete seawalls are a traditional solution for holding back the sea in the first scenario. The rehabilitation of salt ponds and the addition of a beach in front of a levee were included in the second scenario. The third scenario explored nature-based projects such as protecting marshlands and restoring native seagrasses.
The Natural Capital Project's free, open-sourced software, InVEST, was used to model the extra benefits that could flow to people from the county's sea-level rise adaptation options. They found that restoration projects could deliver up to eight times the amount of benefits as traditional solutions. The results show that nature-based solutions will result in six times more pollution reduction than traditional concrete seawalls. The third scenario, which proposed additional nature-based projects, would result in eight times more pollution reduction than traditional approaches.
The researchers met with residents, community groups, and other government agency staff to develop guiding principles for the sea-level rise adaptation planning. Prioritize nature-based actions, use an inclusive, equitable, and community-based process to make decisions, and rigorously track the process to reduce vulnerability, risks, and impacts are among the things that are included.
Our results will be helpful to decision-makers throughout the county because we engaged with government and other stakeholders. There is a lot of enthusiasm for nature based solutions. We are hopeful that this work can help build momentum and tailor approaches to places where they will be effective as long term sea level rise solutions.
Anne is a research associate at the institute. The other co-authors of the paper are researchers from the San Francisco Estuary Institute.
More information: Protection and restoration of coastal habitats yield multiple benefits for urban residents as sea levels rise, npj Urban Sustainability (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42949-022-00056-y
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