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The document outlines six attributes of resilience for watershed governance: inclusive participation, shared understanding, inclusion of ecosystem services, strong leadership, institutional flexibility, and decentralized systems. It emphasizes managing for change rather than against it, using tools like the Social-Ecological Inventory and historical profiling to build trust and adaptability in social-ecological systems.

The report details a workshop in Pajala, Sweden, where local stakeholders and researchers co-created four future narratives for the region based on global Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Participants identified climate change, national-local power relations, and international security as primary drivers of change. The resulting narratives explore a range of futures, from a sustainable 'Green Road' focused on circular economies and bio-production to a 'Rocky Road' characterized by resurgent nationalism and state withdrawal from municipal welfare. The study emphasizes the interconnection between local Arctic conditions—such as mining and reindeer herding—and global trends in migration, resource demand, and climate change.

The WEFsat-Mining Tool User Guidance Manual describes a methodology for assessing how mining affects the water-energy-food nexus. It guides users through a four-step process: establishing a community WEF baseline, identifying mining-specific influences, determining mitigation and enhancement actions, and summarizing findings for decision-makers. The tool utilizes a framework focusing on availability, access, supporting infrastructure, and supporting policies.

The document examines how migration, particularly in the Harenna Buluk district, accelerates deforestation and biodiversity loss in Ethiopia's Harenna Forest. It identifies political pull factors and the introduction of profit-oriented crop farming as key drivers of ecosystem degradation. The brief recommends regulating informal land markets, strengthening species protection, leveraging water conservation narratives, and developing sustainable livelihoods like tourism to protect the ecosystem.

The Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program is a multi-country initiative involving Brazil, Colombia, and Peru to combat deforestation and biodiversity loss. With a total program cost of $796,664,455 (including $113,684,455 from the GEF Trust Fund and $682,980,000 in co-financing), the program focuses on four components: expanding and managing protected areas, implementing integrated landscape management, aligning sectoral policies to reduce deforestation, and fostering regional cooperation. The program targets the mitigation of 300 million metric tons of CO2e and the improved management of 73,117,000 hectares of landscapes.

The IAI Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) evaluates the implementation of an interdisciplinary research model combining natural and social sciences to create policy-relevant solutions in the Americas. The report highlights the success of specific projects, such as meteorological data compilation for crop yield modelling and ecosystem service vulnerability assessments. However, the SAC identifies a critical lack of regional data infrastructure to serve decision-makers and the public. Key recommendations include integrating social scientists from the start of projects, establishing a regional data services framework, and improving capacity building through interdisciplinary workshops.

The SAC reports that the IAI's interdisciplinary model, combining social and natural sciences, is producing useful results and serving as a global example. While evaluating CRN3 projects, the SAC identified a critical regional lack of infrastructure for hosting and distributing data and services. The committee recommends integrating social scientists from the start of project design and strengthening capacity development to better link science with policy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The document examines the conflict between mining, oil, and gas extraction and the conservation of protected areas (PAs) and World Heritage (WH) sites in Africa. It highlights that 32% of African natural WH sites are 'in danger' and argues that extractive activities are incompatible with WH status. The author calls for the implementation of 'no-go zones' in WH sites and the adoption of strict operational guidelines and biodiversity offsets where mining in other PAs is unavoidable. It emphasizes the role of the private sector as a custodian of the environment, noting that financial institutions and international standards (such as the Equator Principles) are increasingly driving corporate compliance to avoid investor stigma and protect shareholder value.

The report argues that expanding global networks of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) is economically advisable, with benefits significantly outweighing costs across all analyzed scenarios. Using a cost-benefit analysis for the period 2015-2050, the study finds that expanding coverage to 30% can generate net benefits between US$490 billion and US$920 billion. The highest returns are associated with 'Protect to Preserve' scenarios that target high-biodiversity areas with low human impact. While MPAs enhance biodiversity, fisheries productivity through spillover, and carbon sequestration in mangroves, the report notes significant data gaps regarding the quantification of various ecosystem services and the specific impacts on high-seas and polar regions.

The report details the application of natural capital science and software tools across various sectors to integrate ecosystem services into decision-making. Key examples include the Inter-American Development Bank's infrastructure planning in Latin America, China's massive reforestation and zoning efforts, and corporate sustainability initiatives by Dow, Unilever, and Coca-Cola. It highlights the role of the Natural Capital Project's open-source tools, such as InVEST and OPAL, in quantifying the trade-offs between economic development and the preservation of natural assets like watersheds and coastal habitats.

The report examines the role of Netley-Libau Marsh in mitigating phosphorus overloading in Lake Winnipeg. It finds that total phosphorus concentrations in the marsh significantly exceed Manitoba Water Quality Guidelines. The study estimates current phosphorus and nitrogen storage in plants and sediment, suggesting that a 25 per cent restoration of cattail and other marsh plants could increase storage potential by 130 tonnes of phosphorus and 500 tonnes of nitrogen.

The document argues that climate change adaptation measures involving green and blue areas provide significant co-benefits for human health, which are often overlooked in policy design. It develops a conceptual framework based on five pathways: prevention of climate and pollution effects, improvement of ecosystem quality, social environment benefits, economic activity development, and interaction with microorganisms. The authors review existing literature using objective, self-reported, and mixed methodologies, finding a generally positive but inconsistent correlation between natural environments and health outcomes, with green areas being more extensively studied than blue areas.

The report analyzes how the IAI transitioned its funding programs from a natural-science focus to a more interdisciplinary approach. It finds that simply changing funding requirements is insufficient; instead, a 'bundled' approach—including experiential learning, networking, mentorship, and connecting research to tangible problems—is necessary to overcome academic incentives that favor disciplinary work. The study highlights a significant increase in social science integration and South-South collaboration across its Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) and Small Grants Program on the Human Dimensions (SGP-HD).

The document advocates for strategic large-basin management in the Lake Winnipeg/Nelson River basins to address climate change, flooding, drought, and nutrient loading. It suggests that integrating ecosystem services into a basin-wide framework, such as the strategic management of upstream wetlands, can optimize power generation and environmental health. The submission references the Columbia River and Murray-Darling River basins as successful examples of transboundary management for multiple benefits.

The report argues that the Mabola Protected Environment (MPE) was correctly proclaimed due to its high biodiversity and hydrological importance. It concludes that de-proclaiming the MPE to allow the Yzermyn coal mine would set a dangerous precedent, risk irreplaceable ecosystems, and contradict South Africa's climate change goals. While the mine's current underground plan has moderate short-term impacts, the report warns of long-term risks including acid mine decant and permanent loss of critical water-producing wetlands.

The report highlights Lake Winnipeg's extreme vulnerability to upstream pressures due to its very low volume relative to its massive drainage basin. It argues that managing the lake in isolation is insufficient and recommends a transboundary, basin-wide framework that treats land as 'ecological infrastructure.' By implementing distributed storage and wetland restoration, the region can mitigate floods, capture nutrients, and buffer against climate change while supporting hydroelectric generation. The document draws on case studies from the Columbia River and Murray-Darling basins to illustrate how integrated water resources management (IWRM) and ecosystem services can balance competing economic and environmental needs.

The paper argues that the simultaneous impacts of multiple drivers—climate, population, land use, and water use—on biodiversity and ecosystem services are largely unknown and rarely analysed together. Using the Norrström drainage basin in Sweden as a case study, the authors highlight that despite significant historical changes since the 19th century, including a 1.6°C temperature increase and rapid urbanization, there is insufficient data on the resulting impacts on biodiversity. The authors advocate for interdisciplinary research and the use of matching-scale data to support adaptive governance.

The study uses a nexus toolkit (WEAP and LEAP) to analyze the food-energy-environment nexus in Ethiopia's Lake Tana Subbasin, finding that agricultural intensification and energy transition are interdependent and potentially competitive. It identifies critical resource scarcity dilemmas regarding water availability and a 'biomass ceiling' where demand for food, fodder, and fuel matches the annual biomass increments of terrestrial ecosystems.

The report analyzes flood and nutrient risks in Kristianstad, Sweden, finding that current flood risk management is too narrowly focused on urban flood control via embankments and pumps, neglecting river basin-wide abatement and resilience. It identifies a lack of cross-sectoral integration between urban planning, agriculture, and forestry, and notes that governance structures for water quantity are fragmented compared to those for water quality. The author argues for a shift toward 'adaptive river management'—living with floods—to better address climate change and sea-level rise.

The policy brief advocates for a shift in how protected areas (PAs) in Africa are valued, moving beyond biodiversity to include measurable economic contributions. It suggests that integrating ecosystem services into national development planning and adopting innovative financing—such as payment for ecosystem services (PES), carbon offsets, and 'wildlife-friendly' product certifications—can secure investment and improve local livelihoods. The authors emphasize that PAs must be co-managed with local communities to ensure equitable benefit sharing and sustainable resource use.