Reduce exposure to climate risks directly

Danang, a prosperous port city in Central Vietnam, is home to a population of 1.2 million inhabitants. Throughout the years, the city went through several boats of urbanization, which allowed its economy to thrive but its environment to be negatively impacted. The city's green areas were reduced, leading to socioeconomic and environmental impacts, including loss of landscape and more energy consumption. (4) Furthermore, the city became vulnerable to natural disasters, which caused destruction and uprooting of trees and vegetation and aggravated soil erosion. (3,4)
To counteract many of these issues, the municipality of Danang initiated several greening activities that included the creation of parks, the greening of street alleys, and the greening of schoolyards as a supporting mechanism for one of Vietnam's nationwide programmes "Plant 1 billion trees in the 2021 - 2025" (5). Recently, the municipality planted 900 Than Mat trees (one of the typical flowering plants of Son Tra Peninsula and scientifically known as Millettia nigrescens Gagnep) along the route from Green Lake to Bai Bac, in the Tho Quang ward, in February 2023. The activity also aims to have an educational role as tree protection is highlighted and build a clean and green city environment (6).
So far, as of February 2023, as part of the 1 billion tree programme, 15,000 trees have been planted in Danang. (2)

The frequent and severe floods that many cities in Lao PDR have been experiencing are causing a significant impact on the livelihood of local and vulnerable communities. To address the issues of flood and climate events, the Green Climate Fund has provided funding for the Lao DPR government to initiate the 'Build Resilience of Urban Populations with Ecosystem-Based Solutions in Lao DPR' project. The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment of Lao, in collaboration with other related departments, universities, and provincial governments, is leading this project. The funding was approved in 2019, and the project is set to conclude by 2025. The project consists of four sub-projects, which will be implemented in four cities, including Paksan, Vientiane, Savannakhet, and Pakse. One of the sub-projects involves rehabilitating the Nong Peung wetland in Paksan city, which currently has no management plan and is negatively impacted by human activities and has been degraded in certain aspects. Natural vegetation has been lost in parts of the wetland, invasive alien plants are encroaching, and the natural water flow has been disrupted in places. The objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive management plan for Nong Peung wetland and implement various nature-based solutions to improve the ecosystem. This will involve removing invasive alien plant species, eliminating human-made barriers that obstruct natural flow, and planting appropriate native species. Currently, the project is in the planning stage with relevant stakeholders to determine the physical implementation site. (Ref.1,2,3)

The green roof development forms a 400-meter-long floating green ribbon above the SM North EDSA mall in Quezon City, Philippines. [3] It boasts a 15000m2 area filled with 55 species of native trees, bushes, and flowers that thrive in the local climate, and it relies on stored rainwater runoff to sustain its plant life. Visitors can access the mall via entrances located within the garden's openings and tunnels leading to shops and cafes nestled beneath the botanical landscape. A meandering pathway guides visitors through the space, which features various entertainment options. The garden provides a unique and innovative space for mall-goers and city dwellers to relax and interact with nature. [1,2]

The rehabilitation of the Klang River or Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) is a project that was put into effect in 2018 by the Selangor State Government. The project aimed to transform the Klang River, considered the most polluted river in Malaysia, into a beautiful and clean river which can be a new source of economic growth in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The river has been polluted with trash, plastic bottles, and sewage, which harmed the vegetation and the aquatic ecosystem (1). The project proved to be highly complex as it included rehabilitation of the river through several green solutions such as the creation of a community park, the conservation of various species of mangroves, and the implementation of riverfront greens as a measure of slope protection. The intervention is set to be developed on an area of 56 Km along the Klang River corridor. It is expected to promote and support the integrated management of river basins with particular emphasis on ensuring that biodiversity and wetland conservation and community considerations are incorporated into river basin management that includes the development of eco-city (3,5,6). Furthermore, the project intends to conduct an awareness campaign about river cleaning and rehabilitation activities to educate the public on the importance of rivers and the environment in our lives while consequently highlighting the critical state of pollution faced by the River (1).

The ‘City of 1,000 Tanks’ project offers a holistic solution to the problems of floods, water scarcity and pollution in Chennai (Ref. 1). The project's primary objective is to develop a "Water Balance Model" for the city, which involves collecting rainwater, treating wastewater and runoff pollution with decentralized nature-based solutions, as well as prevent climate-change-induced droughts and saline intrusion due to sea-level rise (Ref. 1, 2). This is achieved through developing various nature-based water management solutions and improving the recharge capacity of traditional temple tanks (Ref 1).
The project began in 2018, following the call for action event of the "Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia" (a bilateral program spanning several Asian countries). The Water Balance Model is developed as a strategy with an incremental implementation process (Ref 1, 2). The project started with pilot projects and then progressed to flagship projects before full city-wide implementation (Ref. 3).

A 7-hectare pilot public project, the Tebet Eco park is located in South Jakarta in a neighbourhood that is densely populated. Previous to the intervention the park was in an acute state of deterioration and prone to floods as well as ecological degradation, as the park is streamed by a river which made it only more susceptible to heavy rains. As such, the municipal authorities of Jakarta planned to revitalize the area by " increasing the hydraulic capacity of existing canal, improving site-wide pedestrian connectivity, and adding new recreation program". This meant that the park was transformed by planting and conserving new and older trees, as well as using vegetation and natural embankments. Furthermore, the implementer planted riparian vegetation to improve water quality by filtering and cleansing surrounding runoff, which also enhanced the site's biodiversity. Besides these elements, a thematic garden, a forest buffer, and a community garden were implemented complementing the entire eco-design that the park aimed for. The park's rehabilitation focused greatly on the human element as it was paramount to provide maximum benefits for park users, the surrounding natural habitats and species, as well as increasing the land value of the area. (2,3,7)

In 2010, to revamp the Raja Musa Forest Reserve (RMFR), a rehabilitation project was initiated by the Friends of North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest Association (a local NGO) in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders. As part of the largest peat swamp forest complex on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, the Raja Musa Forest Reserve (RMFR) is an important home to many threatened species, as well as a valuable ecosystem in the fight against global warming. Despite this, over the years the forest has been subjected to fires and illegal encroachment which severely reduced its area (1). The project was considered unique as it was an innovation aimed to enhance and strengthen the capacity of the local community in peatland water management and forest rehabilitation works (3,5). Activities included among others rehabilitation of the degraded peat forest through the plantation of new seedlings, demonstration of, and provision of a documentary model for community-based peat swamp forest rehabilitation, as well as the creation of an awareness programme with the local community and dissemination of educational materials (2).
The importance of the intervention consists not only in the implementer's approach in regard to nature-based solutions but also in its aim of documenting a "model of low-cost hydrologic restoration of peat swamp forest" which ultimately should be replicated in similar conditions but in various locations (2).

Bangladesh is a country prone to floods and waterlogging, which results in two-thirds of this nation's land being transformed into wetlands each year. As such, much land becomes unavailable and the restricted access to it causes food insecurity as well as severe environmental pressure on the flora, fauna and ecosystems. The impact is even more serious as agriculture is one of the most important contributors to Bangladesh's GDP (1).
To respond to most of the climate challenges and food insecurities, in 2007 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the humanitarian agency Care International, alongside other partners (including the Bangladeshi government), launched floating gardening (artificial islands, that simply rise and fall with the swelling waters) pilot project in the peri-urban area of the Gopalganj and other close by districts (1,2).
Floating gardens known locally as Baira are an old practice of crop cultivation in the wetlands of Bangladesh, the previous agricultural land, which got destroyed by the floods. The practice consists of piling together a number of dense layers of aquatic weeds like water hyacinth, duckweed, or paddy stubs and letting them decay. Afterwards, they're combined with silt and cow dung and inserted with plant/vegetable seeds left to flourish. On these beds, farmers cultivate fruits and vegetables like turmeric and ginger as well as okra, bitter gourd, snake gourd, spinach, and brinjal. In addition to veggies, rice seedlings can occasionally be raised. As a result, floating gardens are available to everyone, affordable, dependable, and completely in harmony with nature. (2,3) Furthermore, this aquatic farming practice has been shown to be highly effective in tackling the consequences of climatic variability and climate change like prolonged water-logging (3). The intervention has benefited approx. 2,000 families in the district of Gopalganj and it has opened the route for further projects that supported the practice of floating gardens (4).

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners collaborated in 2018 to develop an ecosystem restoration project in the Rohingya Camps of Ukhiya, near Cox's Bazar. The main objective of this project was to mitigate the increased risk of landslides, slope instability, and flooding caused by flash floods and the vicinity of the Bakkhali River. The intervention included the planting of quickly growing native trees, shrubs, and grass species. Additionally, the project encompassed other measures such as vegetable cultivation on stream beds, biological soil stabilization methods, and plant-based wastewater treatments. To ensure the sustainability of the project, a network of future practitioners from the Bangladeshi and Rohingya communities was created. Moreover, environmental education and awareness activities were undertaken to complement the efforts of the project, with a particular focus on engaging young people from both the host and refugee communities to maximize its impact. The area where the project was implemented has been significantly affected by land and forest degradation over the last few decades, which has been exacerbated since the arrival of Rohingya refugees in 2017. Therefore, the project also involved other stakeholders such as the International Center for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Danish Refugee Council, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, and the Bangladesh government, each contributing in various capacities to achieve the project's objectives. (1,2,3,4)

The Bakhawan Eco-Park is a 220-hectare mangrove forest located in Kalibo, Aklan province, Philippines, that started as a reforestation project in 1990. It was a joint project of the local government and a non-government organization, Kalibo Save the Mangroves Association (KASAMA), with the aim of reforesting the muddy shoreline of New Buswang district to protect the community from floods and storm surges [1,2]. Aside from preventing floods, the eco-park also provides locals with livelihood opportunities, mitigates the effects of climate change, and serves as a habitat for various mangrove tree species, birds, and marine life [1,2]. The project's success is largely attributed to the active involvement and support of the local community, with some families playing an integral role in the reforestation program. [2] Notably, the involvement of local women in the NBS initiative has contributed to the success of mangrove conservation. Some women have also taken on the task of policing the mangroves to prevent illegal tree-cutting by trespassers [4]. Today, the eco-park is acknowledged as one of the most successful mangrove reforestation project in the Philippines [1]