Enhancing Biodiversity Co-Benefits From Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation in Practice

The report examines two nature-based solutions (NbS) projects: mangrove restoration in Grenada and interurban biological corridors in Costa Rica. It highlights the importance of establishing ecological baselines, using participatory monitoring and citizen science, and integrating biodiversity targets into urban planning to ensure that climate adaptation efforts also provide net gains for ecosystem health.

• In Grenada, the failure of many mangrove restoration projects is often attributed to a lack of proper site assessment and inappropriate species selection, frequently driven by a focus on area-based targets rather than the quality of restoration procedures.
• The Grenada Fund for Conservation and Gaea Conservation Network developed a mangrove restoration protocol based on biophysical needs and pilot growth experiments to increase restoration success rates and strengthen coastal resilience.
• Effective monitoring of biodiversity co-benefits in Grenada's mangrove projects involved a multi-faceted approach including bird surveys for ecosystem health, vegetation surveys for flora coverage, water sampling for quality, fish surveys to identify nursery functions, and camera traps for mammalian predator surveys.
• Costa Rica's Biodiver_City project aims to establish interurban biological corridors along the María Aguilar and Río Torres river watersheds to combat the urban heat island effect and flooding in the greater metropolitan area of San José.
• The Biodiver_City project utilized the Atlas Verde de la Gran Área Metropolitana, an online tool that maps species at risk and connectivity routes, and integrated citizen science via the iNaturalist app to establish baseline conditions.
• Costa Rica's interurban corridor project developed 15 groups of indicators to track success, including specific metrics for urban biodiversity (such as the index of biological connectivity and percentage of riparian vegetation cover) and resilience (such as the percentage of low-threat areas implementing NbS).
• Lessons from the Costa Rican case study indicate that urban NbS projects face challenges from overlapping jurisdictions between housing and environmental ministries, and a lack of strategic coordination among various isolated 'green city' initiatives.

APA

Jang, N., Lo, V., Rodríguez, J. S., & Terton, A. (2023). Enhancing Biodiversity Co-Benefits From Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation in Practice. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-01/case-studies-biodiversity-co-benefits-nature-based-solutions.pdf

Chicago

Jang, Nicole, Veronica Lo, Jairo Sancho Rodríguez, and Anika Terton. Enhancing Biodiversity Co-Benefits From Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation in Practice. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-01/case-studies-biodiversity-co-benefits-nature-based-solutions.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jang |first1=Nicole |last2=Lo |first2=Veronica |last3=Rodríguez |first3=Jairo Sancho |last4=Terton |first4=Anika |title=Enhancing Biodiversity Co-Benefits From Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation in Practice |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-01/case-studies-biodiversity-co-benefits-nature-based-solutions.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jang2023enhancing, author = {Jang, Nicole and Lo, Veronica and Rodríguez, Jairo Sancho and Terton, Anika}, title = {{Enhancing Biodiversity Co-Benefits From Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation in Practice}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-01/case-studies-biodiversity-co-benefits-nature-based-solutions.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }