ABSTRACT
In the context of climate change adaptation, nature-based solutions are referred to as ecosystem-based adaptation, which harnesses the capacity of nature to buffer human communities from the impacts of climate change through the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. It involves the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems to provide services that help people adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, including climatic extremes and variability. Ecosystem-based adaptation is usually deployed in the form of targeted management, conservation, and restoration activities and often focuses on specific ecosystem services that potentially reduce exposure to climatic extremes. Ecosystem-based adaptation takes advantage of conservation practices as they can be used to build the resilience of people against climate change while increasing ecosystem health and restoring/maintaining ecosystem services. There are a variety of soil conservation and management options available to adapt to climate change. In forests, ecosystem-based adaptation requires monitoring and anticipating climate change and undertaking actions to avoid its negative consequences. Ecosystem-based adaptation addresses water-related extreme events by conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services such as natural flood retention. In coastal and marine environments, ecosystem-based adaptation options focus on the conservation and restoration of ecosystems to enhance the resilience of coastal communities.
