The Economics of Nature-based Solutions: opportunities for Mediterranean coastal wetlands
This series of webinars is organised by BirdLife International and Vertigo Lab in the framework of the Wetland-based Solutions project.
Coastal wetlands provide a range of benefits -ecosystem services- to our daily lives and protect biodiversity. For example, they enable fish and salt production, support bird habitats, and contribute to improve water and soil quality and to capture and sequester carbon. Yet, they remain largely misunderstood, especially when it comes to their contribution to local economies and social development. With the new targets currently being defined at the global level (SDGs, Post-2020 Biodiversity framework), governments will be urged to apply measures that recreate resilience and increase benefits to people. In this context, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in coastal wetlands offer a perfect example of economic development based on natural resources which can be preserved in the long term. Still, today, no common framework exists to highlight and assess the multiple interests of such solutions. In order to help coastal wetland managers, practitioners and decision-makers to understand and implement solutions where nature and socio-economic aspects can live in harmony, we are organising a series of webinars between this autumn and next spring. The webinars will be based on pragmatic approaches with the right tools that will help you to:
- Integrate NbS, based on cost-benefit analysis, in your management plans and land use planning.
- Connect and build dialogues between the different local actors & sectors that take into account needs and benefits for all.
- (Re-)Create a sustainable balance between human needs & natural resource availabilities in your country/region.
Webinar 1
During the first webinar, the concept of Nature-based Solutions and the purpose of assessing the economics of those solutions through cost-benefit analysis were introduced. The webinar showed the link between Ecosystem Services provision and Nature-based-Solutions implementation and how it is key to bring conservation practitioners and policy-decision makers together to improve nature preservation in ecological and economic planning.
Webinar 2
During the second webinar of this series, the methodology to perform a cost-benefit analysis was detailed. This includes how to assess ecosystem services aiming at providing the economic return on Nature-based Solutions implementation. In addition, relevant case studies of restoration projects were also presented and the way to communicate results to policy-makers was discussed.
Webinar 3
This webinar summarised the first two webinars and offered the means for policy decision-makers and businesses to communicate about the results of the cost-benefit analysis led on Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Concrete feedback from the MAVA partners embodied the presented methodology, and a future document detailing the methodological guidelines on the Economics of NbS intended for the attendees was promoted.