Food system demands have increased exponentially in recent decades and are estimated to continue growing as global populations increase and economic affluence expands. However, the very foundation of a productive system – healthy lands and soils and clean water supply – is already under immense pressure. In fact, by the most credible estimates, up to 52% of global agricultural lands are now moderately to severely degraded, with millions of hectares per year degrading to the point they are abandoned by the land manager. The loss of productive land, coupled with increased food demand, pushes agriculture to be the primary driver in 80% of native habitat loss. Agricultural irrigation is driving the majority of water scarcity issues in high-risk basins threatening food systems, community water supplies and ecosystem health. These pressures have resulted in the global agriculture sector driving more biodiversity loss, destruction of natural habitat, soil degradation and depletion of natural resources around the world than any other industry.
In recent years, considerable progress has been made in the area of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) that improve ecosystem functions of environments and landscapes affected by agricultural practices and land degradation, while enhancing livelihoods and other social and cultural functions. This has opened up a portfolio of NbS options that offer a pragmatic way forward for simultaneously addressing conservation, climate and socioeconomic objectives while maintaining healthy and productive agricultural systems. NbS can mimic natural processes and build on land restoration and operational water-land management concepts that aim to simultaneously improve vegetation and water availability and quality, and raise agricultural productivity. NbS can involve conserving or rehabilitating natural ecosystems and/or the enhancement or the creation of natural processes in modified or artificial ecosystems. In agricultural landscapes, NbS can be applied for soil health, soil moisture, carbon mitigation (through soil and forestry), downstream water quality protections, biodiversity benefits as well as agricultural production and supply chains to achieve net-zero environmental impacts while achieving food and water security, and meet climate goals.
This report seeks to provide the countries in the Europe and Central Asia region with an overview and real examples of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) applied to agriculture. This is FAO’s first attempt to present NBS applied to agriculture especially pointed at the countries of this region, prompting the scaling-up of these actions as solutions to brought ashore the transition towards resilience and sustainable agriculture. Nature-based Solution is a recent concept that has been rapidly embraced and promoted by international organizations, government bodies, scientific research, and social organizations to face current societal challenges. In agriculture, these solutions are supported by ecosystems functioning to provide food security and livelihoods. By doing so, natural resources and biodiversity are managed in such a way that they maintain their functions providing ecosystem services to the agro-ecosystem. Europe and Central Asia is a highly diverse region in which agri-food systems have had to adapt to severe and context-specific conditions. Therefore, it is also a treasure trove of NbS in agriculture, ingeniously developed and maintained by its local communities for centuries. By providing time-tested successful NbS examples coming from Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), this report encourages the recognition and identification of already existing NbS in the region as supportive actions that could be enhanced thanks to innovation and science. This way "Hand in Hand with nature: Nature-based solutions for transformative agriculture" supports ECA countries to manage natural resources sustainably while also coping with climate change and other threats to agri-food systems.
There are 2.4 billion people without improved sanitation and another 2.1 billion with inadequate sanitation (i.e. wastewater drains directly into surface waters), and despite improvements over the past decades, the unsafe management of fecal waste and wastewater continues to present a major risk to public health and the environment (UN, 2016). There is growing interest in low cost sanitation solutions which harness natural systems. However, it can be difficult for wastewater utility managers to understand under what conditions such nature-based solutions (NBS) might be applicable and how best to combine traditional infrastructure, for example an activated sludge treatment plant, with an NBS such as treatment wetlands. There is increasing scientific evidence that treatment systems with designs inspired by nature are highly efficient treatment technologies. The cost-effective design and implementation of ecosystems in wastewater treatment is something that exists and has the potential to be further promoted globally as both a sustainable and practical solution. This book serves as a compilation of technical references, case examples and guidance for applying nature-based solutions for treatment of domestic wastewater, and enables a wide variety of stakeholders to understand the design parameters, removal efficiencies, costs, co-benefits for both people and nature and trade-offs for consideration in their local context. Examples through case studies are from across the globe and provide practical insights into the variety of potentially applicable solutions.
Climate change is one of the most critical social and environmental concerns and the biggest threat to economic stability in human history. Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, are vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. Although average forest cover is only 10.2 percent of these countries (FAO-SEC countries), they play an essential role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, including human well-being and biodiversity co-benefits. The NbS concept has gained attention since the late 2000s. Its practical contribution to global climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts has found significant implementation opportunities in forestry to support the protection and conservation, restoration and expansion, and sustainable management of forests under the impact of climate change.Globally, implementing NbSs to combat the negative impact of climate change on forestry is promoted by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Regionally, implementing NbSs to combat the negative impacts of climate change on forestry has been included in the forest policy initiatives of the countries in the sub-region recently. As a result, governments have implemented NbSs through national strategies and programs to address societal challenges by enhancing ecosystem services and promoting human well-being and biodiversity co-benefits. For example, Azerbaijan has implemented afforestation, reforestation, rehabilitation, and restoration activities in forest fund lands on an average of 9 727 hectares (ha) annually since 2000. Kazakhstan aims to save the Aral Sea basin from salinity and improve soil fertility through afforestation activities of saxaul species on 0.25 million ha, and the afforestation area in the Aral Sea will be extended by 1 million ha till 2025. Kyrgyzstan has planned a 1,000-ha annual plantation program to expand protected natural areas to 10 percent. Tajikistan implements 2,000 ha of annual plantation activities to increase the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential through participatory forestry sector development. Türkiye implemented afforestation, soil conservation, forest rehabilitation, pasture rehabilitation, private afforestation, artificial regeneration, and establishment of energy forests activities on 9.62 million ha from 1946 to 2022. Turkmenistan conducts afforestation activities with drought-resistant plant species and established the "Golden Century Lake" in the Karakum Desert to improve the climate conditions and conserve biodiversity. Uzbekistan declared the Aral Sea region
Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.
This open access book brings together research findings and experiences from science, policy and practice to highlight and debate the importance of nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation in urban areas. Emphasis is given to the potential of nature-based approaches to create multiple-benefits for society. The expert contributions present recommendations for creating synergies between ongoing policy processes, scientific programmes and practical implementation of climate change and nature conservation measures in global urban areas. Except where otherwise noted, this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This book aims to contribute to the discourse on climate crisis by bringing together high-quality empirical research on adaptive approaches and sustainability case studies from across the world. The book is divided into six sections. The introductory section has two chapters which sets the ground of the book as it discusses the framing of climate crisis and the different approaches towards it. It also situates the book within the global discourse. The first chapter seeks the traditional approaches to bridge the gap in the new climate science, while the second chapter delivers the ultimate reasons for temperature change, global warming and its consequences (extreme weather events) in a comprehensive way. It is hoped that the book as a whole will provide a timely synthesis of a rapidly growing and important field of climate science but will also bring forward new and stimulating ideas that will shape a coherent and fruitful vision for future work for the community of Undergraduates, Postgraduates, Ph.D. Scholars and Researchers in the fields of environmental sciences, humanistic and social sciences and geography. In addition, policy and decision makers, environmentalists, NGOs, corporate sectors, social scientists, and government organizations will find this book to be of great value. We believe that a diverse group of academics, scientists, geographers, environmentalists, environmental regulators, social scientists, and sustainable scientists with a common interest within the earth environmental sciences and humanistic and social sciences will find this book to be a comprehensive source for reference. Also, we strongly deemed that it will also provide some support for various levels of organizations and administrations for developing and achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 in purview of climate change.
Urban populations are projected to increase from 54% to 66% of the global population by 2050, with close to 90% of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. Cities and towns---a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions---will need to address challenges posed by climate change. A nature-based approach in identifying climate change vulnerabilities and developing relevant adaptation options was conducted in three towns of the Greater Mekong Subregion. Working with local governments, nongovernment organizations, women's groups, and professional associations, town-wide adaptation measures were defined by overlaying climate change projections on town plans and zoning schemes for strategic infrastructure. This publication captures valuable experience and lessons from the project.
