Informations NBS

River and floodplain rehabilitation and restoration embraces a great variety of measures having in common the emphasis on natural functions of rivers, which may have been lost or degraded by human interventions (e.g. damming, construction of levees and embankments, sediment dredging, changing of natural forms of rivers, construction of infrastructure on the floodplain, etc.). Many European rivers have been significantly modified in the past decades to serve only one dominant function (e.g. navigation) or few more.

Japan is an archipelago of several thousand islands stretching some 3,000 kilometers from north to south, sitting on the boundaries of multiple tectonic plates. Large differences in elevation between the coastal and mountainous areas create steep terrain and many rapid rivers. Japan is located in one of the world's most seismically active areas and accounts for about 20 percent of the world's large earthquakes as well as about 10 percent of all active volcanoes in the world.

Natural and Nature-based Features have been used for decades to support a variety of objectives in coastal and fluvial systems. Beach, dune and river and lake restoration projects have been a longstanding part of flood risk reduction strategies in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. Restoration projects supporting floodplain, wetlands, seagrass, oysters and other habitats and communities have been undertaken around the world to restore ecosystem functions.

This publication intends to inspire policy and decision makers by showcasing a selection of solutions, that have been applied in very different settings. It shows that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has ‘many faces’: It is being implemented successfully in a broad range of countries and ecosystems and it is being driven forward by all kinds of people and organizations.EbA solutions are applied examples of successful processes or approaches to solve a specifi c challenge related to climate change. They address current and future climate change impacts (e.g.

This handbook provides practical guidance for planning and implementing community-led ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in three vulnerable ecosystems: mountains, drylands and coastal areas. It is intended for project managers, practitioners and technical specialists. The guidance is structured around eight key steps in the project cycle, and includes general implementation protocols for EbA in each target ecosystem. It also includes an introduction to EbA which is intended for a broader audience, including policymakers.

Gravitational natural hazards such as snow avalanches, rockfalls, shallow landslides and volcanic activity represent a risk to mountain communities around the world. In particular, where documentary records about these processes are rare, decisions on risk management and land-use planning have to be based on a variety of other sources including vegetation, tree-ring data and natural hazard process models.This paper used a combination of these methods in order to evaluate dynamics of natural hazards with a focus on snow avalanches at Valle Las Trancas, in the Biobío region in Chile.

Ecosystem-based measures have a high potential to replace or build on engineered solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), not only in rural but also in urban areas. Based on the case study of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this working paper reveals the potential for implementing such ecosystem-based measures to protect informal settlements. These so-called favelas are often located on steep slopes and therefore prone to landslides that are triggered by heavy rainfall events.

The use of adapted crops and varieties (including both herbaceous and tree crops) is suggested by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) among the climate-smart practices for risk reduction, soil and water conservation, and efficient water management. The use of adapted crops and varieties (either annual or perennial) helps to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on agricultural systems and at the same time to ensure stable agricultural production.

Ecosystems and biodiversity have long been endangered by numerous factors, such as habitat modification due to changes in land use, habitat loss due to various human activities, habitat fragmentation for example due to traffic routes, etc. Climate change is an essential factor adding additional pressure on habitats and biodiversity. Every organism has certain demands in terms of climatic conditions. This is reflected in the global distribution of species.

The extent to which climate change will impact our society depends on the exposure, vulnerability (which are linked to the socio-economic development) and the type of hazards. In any case climate change adaptation is needed at all levels: at the local, regional, national, transnational, EU and also the international level. Due to the varying severity and nature of climate impacts across regions in Europe, most adaptation initiatives are taken at the regional or local levels.