CHALLENGE

Natural systems provided communities with many important services, including protection from natural hazards, and the provision of key resources like water and energy.  Natural systems also provide additional benefits: for instance, mangroves intended for coastal protection also provide fisheries, timber, non-timber forest products, tourism revenue, and act as a significant carbon sink.  But too often engineers and project designers overlook the potential of integrating nature-based infrastructure along with built infrastructure because of factors such as a lack of training or knowledge, legal and regulatory obstacles, or funders’ unfamiliarity with nature-based infrastructure. As a result, “gray” or “hard’ infrastructure solutions have dominated the efforts to reducing and managing disaster risk. However, the demand for nature-based solutions has increased over the years as a way of better managing exposure to natural hazards and climate change, while simultaneously building the resilience of vulnerable communities in a sustainable manner.

This activity will establish a knowledge management system that explores the link between nature-based infrastructure and the risk of natural disasters and the management of water systems. 

APPROACH

In its first phase, this activity will undertake a comprehensive stocktaking of experiences with nature-based infrastructure in order to identify opportunities and obstacles to its broader use, and develop a strategy for promoting these techniques. This strategy will then be implemented to promote wider use of nature-based infrastructure in World Bank operations for forests and disaster risk reduction. Finally, a program will be developed to support the incorporation of nature-based infrastructure into World Bank operations, including funding to support assessment and implementation of nature-based solutions along with grey infrastructure, and mentoring by a core group of experts.

RESULTS

This activity is ongoing. Findings will be shared on this page when they become available.