The Future Oceans Lab-CIM at the University of Vigo is working on an innovative methodology to evaluate the impact of Nature-Based Solutions on mitigating climate risks. This methodology is accessible through a Shiny App and it will be incorporated into the MPA4Change toolkits for climate change adaptation.
Nature-Based Solutions to address climate risks
The new paper published by Juan Bueno-Pardo and colleagues, who belongs to the Future Oceans Lab-CIM group at the University of Vigo on Global Change Biology, presents a methodology that applies the concept of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) as tools capable for decreasing the climate risk of different units of analysis (from species to social groups or ecosystem services), in the line of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) techniques. The methodology is based on the application of two Climate Risk Assessments (CRA), one that considers the implementation of NBS and one in which NBS have not been implemented. In this way, the difference of risk estimated at both situations is seen as a proxy of the NBS effectiveness.
Details of the methodology
Shellfish harvesters, a sector potentially vulnerable to climate change effects, working in Galicia, Spain – Photo by Kongriakos
Similar to the Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT), which is included in the set of toolkits offered by MPA4Change to support climate change adaptation in MPAs, this methodology characterises and quantifies the main components of risk: hazards, exposure, and vulnerability. It also can be used considering different scenarios or specific time periods, opening the door to the design of adaptation pathways.
This work has resulted in a Shiny App where users can learn about the tool, download templates, and get results and reports, all on the same website. This example suggests that we can fine-tune VAT by, for example, creating a Shiny App with this tool where we can find courses, webinars, templates, and other documents.
Fine-tunning of solutions to support climate change adaptation
In line with this work, and as part of the MPA4Change project team, the University of Vigo is currently addressing the fine-tuning of the toolkit presented in the previous project, MPAEngage. The fine-tunning includes collecting feedback from users and trainers and providing a list of improvements to the tools. The final outcome will be a more transferable, and easy-to-use version of the toolkit for both scientists and Marine Protected Areas managers to be used during the implementation of MPA4Change.
The complete paper “Assessing the effectiveness of marine nature-based solutions with climate risk assessments” is available online at this link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.17296
