Measurements of biophysical aspects of the NBS (e.g. temperature, water flow)

Around 90% of Guyana’s population lives in an area that is below sea level, with many inhabiting flood-prone areas along the coast. The coastal plains are also home to about 75% of the country’s economic activities, including almost all of Guyana’s agricultural production. Over the years, degradation and loss of mangrove forests have resulted in increased coastal flooding and saltwater inundation of agricultural land. Mangroves contribute substantially to sea defence in Guyana by damping wave action and reducing wave energy, trapping sediments and stabilizing shoreline substrates while playing an important role in carbon sequestration.
The Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project was executed during 2010-2013 under the National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute. Following completion of the Project phase and given the importance of mangroves to Guyana’s coastal defences, mangrove restoration and management were integrated into NAREI (the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute), a national institution that promotes climate-smart agriculture and resilient citizens. (1,2)

Peru has seen a sharp increase in major flooding, prolonged droughts and water scarcity of supplies in the dry season, negatively impacting agriculture, migration, conflict and economic growth in recent years. As 71% of the world's tropical glaciers are found in Peru these climatic changes affected the country profoundly leading to a decrease in the glacial surface and creating unstable lagoons also causing natural disasters such as alluvium landslides and deadly flash foods. Glacial melt is also disrupting water flow and quality, posing a threat to the flora and fauna that rely on freshwater environments. Unsustainable management of fragile glacier ecosystems is causing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. To counteract many of these challenges and to safeguard the communities that are in peril, in 2011, the Government of Peru together with a number of stakeholders, initiated an intervention to sustainably manage more than 200 new lakes that affect directly populations in different cities in the Ancash, Cusco and Lima regions, Huaraz being one of the cities targeted. The project benefitted downstream communities and protected fragile high-altitude freshwater ecosystems. (1,2)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s coastal zone stretches 40 km and comprises the towns of Muanda, Banana and Nsiamfumu. The problem of coastal erosion has intensified since 1980 with the significant retreat of the coast in the Banana-Muanda segment, this retreat has been estimated as much as 2,300 meters. According to the report of the second national communication on climate change (2010), the Democratic Republic of Congo’s coastal zone, with a coastline of about 40km, is facing coastal erosion due to a combined effect of topography, sandy nature of the soil and ocean dynamics (height and direction of the swell, tide height, current velocity, storms etc.). With the rate of shoreline retreat that is likely, it is expected that the road between Banana-Muanda will be completely lost between 2050 and 2100. The proportion of lands lost to encroaching sea will double (200 m around Nsiamfumu and 100 m between Muanda city and Banana). In total, DRC can expect to see the reach of its coastal zone reduced from 50-100 m by 2100. To respond to some of these complex challenges the Department of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism, Democratic Republic of Congo implemented the present intervention partnering with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). (1,2)

Douala is the economic capital of Cameroon and one of its largest cities. The city is located on the banks of the Wouri River (hence a port city) and its climate is tropical. The marine and coastal biodiversity of Cameroon is rich and diverse, and it is highly endangered because of human activities including artisanal and industrial fishing and pollution generated from industries, accidental loss of crude oil in transit or during loading or unloading. In Douala, thousands of inhabitants have settled in and around the mangrove swamps, destroying the mangrove ecosystem and endangering biodiversity including snakes, birds, fish, trees and frogs. Biodiversity studies are rare, and even if they exist, they are done in part and do not give an overview of the real state of biodiversity in the city. The city of Douala is full of many ecosystems of various natures (micro-ecosystems), each of which has species adapted to the environment. Besides this, Douala confronts itself with seasonal flooding and high temperatures due to climate change. In response to some of these challenges, a local entity, the Association of academics and researchers for Biodiversity conservation, initiated in 2020 an action that focused on environmental education and biodiversity conservation. The initiative also provides a framework for reflection and exchange on biodiversity issues. (1,3,4)

Ecuador is considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the world (one of the 17th most diverse), due to the high diversity of their natural species. The country has around 23.056 taxonomic species of animals and plants reported, which constitutes the 6,1% of all species reported worldwide. (6) Quito, the country's capital makes no exception and is considered a biodiversity hotspot. In recent years, urban expansion has had a detrimental effect on the environment and the city’s ecology. All of these actions exacerbate the stresses on the different ecosystems, contaminate water sources and networks, and put the city’s capacity to supply ecosystem services at risk. To respond to many of these challenges the municipality of Quito initiated in 2020 a nature-based solution program under the EU framework of Clever Cities. (1) The project intends to position nature-based solutions as a means to improving public health, social cohesion, citizen security and increasing economic opportunities in those areas. (3)

The Anderson Road Quarry, once a vacant 40-hectare site is getting transformed into a sustainable residential neighbourhood while ensuring climate resiliency and low environmental impact in Hong Kong. The site will supply housing for 25,000 people. In addition to this, the city is employing a wide array of adaptive and resilient approaches including saving around 3,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, helping the city live up to its 65% to 75% carbon reduction goal by 2030 set in Hong Kong Climate Action Plan. [1]

The Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) Mapping is the initiative for Identification, Mapping, and Promotion of Blue and Green Infrastructures for Sustainable Urban Ecosystem in the city of Kathmandu. In line with the 2021 World Environment Day (WED) theme “Ecosystem Restoration”, the consortium of NAXA and Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction (IHRR) officially launched the initiative. All the datasets will be made public through both the open data portal and the OpenStreetMaps. The mapping has only started and until now, it has only mapped the blue infrastructures (rivers, canals, ponds, wetlands, floodplains and water treatment facilities). The green infrastructures will include lawns, parks, fields, forests, greenprints, natural asset maps, ecological networks and street trees. [1, 2]

Battambang is projected to experience significant effects of climate change that will have a range of impacts including changes to hydrology and the frequency and intensity of flooding and droughts. As part of an Asian Development Bank project, a technical Climate Change Core Group was established to ensure that representatives from key sectors and levels of government work together to build resilience for the town and prepare the residents for the inevitable climate change impacts in the future. Three infrastructure systems in Battambang were identified for detailed vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning by the climate change Core Group; a) a long canal system to the west of the town, b) the riverbanks near the Sor Kheng Bridge in the centre of town, c) the train station and surrounding wetlands and settlements in the centre of town. [1, 2]

Medellin is the second-largest city in Colombia. The city used to be one of the most dangerous in the world, as Pablo Escobar founded here the Medellin cartel. After the death of Escobar, the city's homicide rate has decreased by 95% and extreme poverty by 66%, thanks in part to a string of innovative mayors who laid out plans to integrate the poorest and most violent hillside neighbourhoods into the city centre in the valley below. The same innovative mayors realised that Columbia and its cities are very vulnerable to climate change being located in a tropical zone and is influenced by El Niño and the La Niña. In Medellin, the municipality has built upon a tradition of planning to become an urban lab for the construction of public life with the aim of inclusive, peaceful and sustainable development. As such starting in 2008 Medellin began implementing a green strategy whose goal was the creation of a green belt around the city as well as waste control. The intervention discussed in this case is one initiated in 2014 when the municipality carried out planting and reforestation projects for the protection of the eastern slopes of the city. (1,2,3)

The Ningbo Ecological Corridor is a post-industrial landscape ecological reconstruction project. It is located in the middle of the Eastern New Town in Ningbo, with a total area of 90 hectares [4]. Built upon a typical post-industrial site with degraded ecologies that needs to be healed and would soon become part of a new urbanized district, this project is holistic ecosystem services-oriented, introducing terraced wetland to manage elevation change of the site to slow the flows of urban runoffs from the street down to the river and remove the nutrients [1]. “Before being designed, the site and surrounding areas were fragmented farmland, villages and factories that were planned to be relocated - a typical brownfield in the rural-urban fringe of the southern region of China”[1]. With the implementation of the project, "the original channelized river is transformed into a meandering eco-friendly waterway dotted with tree isles to increase the interface between organisms and water bodies to empower the river’s purification capacity. The project uses productive crops and annual flowers that are rotated to bring seasonal surprise and agricultural vitality to the growing city. Boardwalks are designed to allow visitors to have intimate experience of nature and the nostalgic pastoral landscape. Pavilions made of corten steel floats on wetlands and terraces, giving the ecological corridor a touch of contemporary urban life and art. [1] "As a result, this project demonstrated landscape as an ecological infrastructure that heals the degraded ecological system meanwhile provides social and cultural services to the establishing communities." [1]