Nature-Based and Hybrid Solutions

What are nature-based and hybrid solutions?

Nature-based solutions refer to strategies that use natural systems (such as mangrove forests, salt marshes, and beach dunes), or living or natural elements (such as plantings, coconut fiber logs, and other sustainable materials) to address challenges such as flooding, high heat days, and worsening water quality. Hybrid solutions combine these aforementioned elements with hardened engineered options like seawalls, levees, and culverts.

Incorporating these options into local adaptation planning can support our local nature-based economy, provide significant amounts of ecological services our communities depend on, and contribute to a multiple lines of defense approach to managing risk.