Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are defined by IUCN as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, which address societal challenges (e.g. climate change, food and water security or natural disasters) effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

The NbS concept, as used in environmental sciences and nature conservation contexts, has emerged within the last decade or so, as international organisations search for ways to work with ecosystems – rather than relying on traditional ''hard'' engineering solutions (such as seawalls) – to adapt to and mitigate climate change effects, while improving sustainable livelihoods and protecting natural ecosystems and biodiversity. NbS is a relatively ‘young’ concept, still in the process of being framed. There is a need now to deepen our understanding of NbS and confirm the principles upon which NbS is based, in order to move towards an operational framework that can guide applications of the NbS concept.

The following set of NbS principles are proposed. Nature-based Solutions:

1. embrace nature conservation norms (and principles);
2. can be implemented alone or in an integrated manner with other solutions to societal challenges (e.g. technological and engineering solutions);
3. are determined by site-specific natural and cultural contexts that include traditional, local and scientific knowledge;
4. produce societal benefits in a fair and equitable way, in a manner that promotes transparency and broad participation;
5. maintain biological and cultural diversity and the ability of ecosystems to evolve over time;
6. are applied at the scale at a landscape;
7. recognise and address the trade-offs between the production of a few immediate economic benefits for development, and future options for the production of the full range of ecosystems services;
8. are an integral part of the overall design of policies, and measures or actions, to address a specific challenge.

In the figure bellow there is a hypothetical situation on how NbS can be applied so that you can get a clear picture on which suite of measures could be potentially aplied in a certain situation.

Source: NbS platform