Nature-based Solutions (NbS) use ecosystems and the services they provide to address societal challenges such as climate change, food security or natural disasters. IUCN defines NbS as: “Actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits
The report proposes a definitional framework for NbS, including a set of general principles for any NbS intervention. The report also defines the scope of NbS as an umbrella concept embracing a number of different ecosystembased approaches.These NbS approaches include, for example, ecological restoration,
ecological engineering, forest landscape restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem-based mitigation, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, green infrastructure,ecosystem-based management, and the various area-based conservation approaches such as protected area management.
The report considers several potential parameters that can be used to build an operational framework, on the basis of which the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of NbS interventions can be systematically
assessed. IUCN is committed to supporting further development of an operational framework for NbS. The report outlines how the Ecosystem Approach offers a solid foundation for the NbS concept.
Finally, the report presents ten case studies of NbS applications from around the world. These cases have been chosen to represent the range of ecosystem services and societal challenges that can be addressed by NbS interventions. The report looks at some of the lessons learned from these cases and discusses the importance of building an evidence base for NbS in order to support future replication and upscaling.