How to work with nature to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?

The term nature-based solutions (SBn) joined ecological jargon a few decades ago to refer to actions that promote the sustainable use of resources and the use of natural processes and cycles, in which not only are raw materials extracted in a moderate and responsible manner, but also the habitats from which they are obtained are protected - and if possible - restored; at the same time, SBn generates benefits for societies. The practice of what constitutes the concept of SBn today is nothing more than the systematization of traditional management of natural resources, because the predecessor civilizations, such as prehistoric civilizations, Mesoamerican civilizations and all those that have been part of our history before the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the establishment of capitalism (both events that involved a rupture in the nature-society relationship) mostly used soil, forest and water management techniques that preserved biological diversity and favored ecological processes that allowed them to survive from ecosystem services (Seddon et al. , 2020).

In the contemporary context, land owners still resort to the sustainable management that distinguishes SBn, despite the difficulties of the environmental and social crisis. However, faced with the need to analyze how to work with nature to regenerate our planet, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) set global objectives, based, in part, on claiming the traditional management of natural resources carried out by those who live and work the earth, and considering it a global duty. The result was 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at the government, private and civil sectors. Although they are not legally mandatory, they are a commitment for UN member countries, which establish policies and programs for sustainable development, and record the progress achieved. Actions are carried out at three levels: global, local and individual. The call to address poverty, gender inequity and the climate emergency, therefore, are global and urgent objectives; the participation of different actors (intersectoriality) is required for the fulfillment of these goals.

Towards the 2030 Goals

Nature-based solutions were taken up because of the need to work hand in hand with ecosystems and not rely solely on conventional green engineering solutions, but being a relatively recent concept, there is still no precise definition. These are some principles with which SBNs have been identified:

1. They follow natural conservation policies.
2. They can be implemented alone or together with other solutions, such as technological or engineering solutions.
3. They are determined spatio-temporally and by cultural contexts in which there is local scientific and traditional knowledge in resource management.
4. They produce social benefits in a fair manner.
5. They maintain cultural and biological diversity, as well as the capacity to contribute to ecosystem resilience.
6. They are applied at local and global scales.
7. They recognize and address the commercial aspect, economic benefits and the production of ecosystem services in a responsible manner.
8. They are part of a general design of policies, measures or actions aimed at a specific environmental challenge.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines them as follows: “actions aimed at sustainably protecting, managing and restoring natural or modified ecosystems, which address society's challenges in an effective and adaptable way, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”. Features such as the protection and restoration of ecosystems, as well as their important social and cultural component, allow us to visualize the scope of nature-based solutions to make them part of the fulfillment of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030, which, as mentioned before, have the general purpose of eradicating poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring the prosperity of the organisms that live on it. This is achieved through the following specific objectives:

1. End of Poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Health and Wellness
4. Quality education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean water and sanitation
7. Affordable and clean energy
8. Decent work and economic growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reducing inequalities
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Responsible production and consumption
13. Climate action
14. Underwater life
15. Life in terrestrial ecosystems
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
17. Alliances to achieve the objectives

Because of the equitable nature of the SDGs, these they require strategies that link human and ecosystem needs. In that sense, nature-based solutions represent a key strategy for achieving the SDGs. The cases that will be explained below are examples of how SBn are implemented and how they contribute to these global objectives.

Floating gardens and cases of hope

Chinampas are an example of resource management based on natural systems. It is possible that the Toltecs began to use them between 900 and 1150, but they became popular in the Valley of Mexico, in the lakes and wetlands of Tláhuac and Xochimilco, in 1519. The Mexica culture was the one that kept this method of cultivation in force; until now it is a traditional agricultural system that is more than four thousand years old (Carmona and Torres, 2014).

Chinampas are built in shallow areas of lakes, both on the shores and in the center of the body of water. That way, vegetables and other types of agricultural products do not depend on artificial irrigation or rainwater. The land is kept moist by the lake's own infiltration, making it highly fertile, with a large amount of nutrients. The chinampa is surrounded by a frame of hollow posts - a native tree resistant to excess water - to support it and prevent the soil from overflowing. With reed stakes and aquatic plant waste, a firm fence is formed that provides even more support to the structure. Due to their present fertility and humidity, chinampas are considered to be fairly efficient intensively produced agroecosystems. Some of the most common foods in the harvest are corn, beans, chili, pumpkin, chard, spinach, spearmint, purslane, tomato and tomato, chilacayote, quelites, huazontles and rosemary, among other plants. In addition to the production of edible goods, chinampas provide ecosystem and cultural benefits, which is why they are considered part of Mexico's biocultural heritage (Díaz del Campo, s.f.).

The chinampero system is clearly a nature-based solution; it also offers us an encouraging picture within the SDGs. Its contribution in terms of sustainability lies in two aspects: the natural sphere and the social sphere. Regarding the first, chinampas do not have a negative impact on the environment because the technique used for their establishment depends on elements specific to the lake habitat, which is why it promotes the conservation of the ecosystem: lake water is the main resource; fertile land is obtained from a mixture of mud from the bottom of the channels, aquatic plants and organic fertilizer, consisting of the excrement of cattle and humans; the roots of the huejotes, over time, become settled trees that provide shade and protection against Wind to the planting; in addition, it serves as a home and nursery for a large number of organisms, including some endemic to the town.

On the other hand, sustainability within the social sphere of chinampas involves community organization: farmers work to develop this system, provide themselves with food and market their products; this manages the food sovereignty of the community and preserves an ancient cultural practice (Carmona and Torres, 2014). The Chinampera tradition could then contribute to the SDGs, for example, the Goal 2: Zero hunger, by meeting the food needs of the population through food sovereignty; the Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, by promoting economic autonomy; and the Goal 15: Life in terrestrial ecosystems, by promoting the conservation of one of the most important ecosystems in the Valley of Mexico, the wetland.

Organizations specializing in climate change, such as the UN Environment Program or the IUCN, have identified precisely the above: the effectiveness of SBn is wattage by combining them with conventional solutions. While the above has a utopian tint, it is highly feasible and attainable. To make it real, investment and intersectoral engagement are essential. Governments and companies, by investing in environmental projects, promote the growth of jobs that gradually reduce poverty rates. By financing nature-based solutions, goals for ecosystems are achieved and economic incentives are received for those who safeguard planetary health. Toroto, for example, ensures that land owners and those who work to protect and sustainably manage their natural resources get compensation that is fair and proportional to their indispensable work; on average, the profit of these actors is generally greater than 68% of what is generated by each project. In this way, in addition to implementing SBn, different SDGs are addressed, such as the Goal 2: Zero hunger, the Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, the Goal 13: Climate action And the Goal 15: Life in terrestrial ecosystems.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has conducted research on monetary investment for nature-based solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. In them, it analyzes the benefits from all possible sides, considering the SDGs: it reflects both the role of land owners, workers in sustainable actions, as well as the contribution of investors and governments. It is urgent to mention the need to encourage, in particular, those who own land and those who work directly with actions for the conservation, protection, restoration and management of natural resources, since the purpose is not only to meet national and global objectives, but also to be consistent with the social sphere of sustainability, which is often forgotten.

Let's look at another example, this time in Honduras, where once again the economic incentive for communities that work the land is essential to achieve medium and long-term goals:

“An epidemic of pine bark beetles, which began in 2012, compromised the ability of forests to provide ecosystem services [improving water quality and regulating water availability according to seasonal variation]. Between 2012 and 2016, the bark beetle destroyed more than 480,000 hectares of the country's pine forests, interrupting the supply of ecosystem resources to approximately 71% of the country's population.” (Oliver et al., 2021)

The Honduran government requested a loan from the IDB to recover and maintain the forests. It invested in forest enrichment with native species, the removal of dead wood and forest thinning; all of these are nature-based solutions. In a comprehensive way, the communities that manage publicly owned forests participated, “to encourage the participation of women both in restoration activities and in the management of the project” (Goal 5: Gender Equality). Incentives were also financed on private land; private forest owners were given a budget to carry out restoration actions. The funding also covered research on climate change and the strengthening of the Honduran forest health department.

Another case study, also developed by the IDB, was the comprehensive management of water resources in the provision of water for urban, peri-urban and rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Let's read what happened:

“In order to achieve the SDGs in water and sanitation by 2030, it is estimated that an investment of approximately 14 billion dollars per year will be necessary in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). While close to 96% of the population has access to basic drinking water services, the quality and quantity of LAC's water supply faces multiple threats” . (Ibid.)

To solve this problem, two nature-based solutions were proposed: one for water security and the other for improving water quality. The first SbN consists of increasing storage capacity and improving base flows through the use and management of upper forest basins, wetlands and floodplains that are formed by water slides. The second solution was to take advantage of forests, inland wetlands and coastal areas as natural filters for chemical and biological impurities in the water; in addition to reducing water erosion. There were at least three projects that used such SBn: the Tietê River Recovery Project, in Brazil, which financed the recovery of 36 hectares of riverbank areas; the Volkswagen Group of Mexico, which financed the protection and reforestation of the basins of the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley, on the slopes of the Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl volcanoes, to ensure the supply of water and supply the operation of its factory in Puebla; and the regulatory body for drinking water in Peru, which offered service providers of Water incentives of funding for SBn, which consist of an infiltration system - a solution that indigenous communities in the tropical Andes have been carrying out for 1,400 years as a legacy of pre-Inca cultures - to improve water quality in the dry season (Ibid.). For this problem, with such projects involved, there was attention from at least two SDGs: Objective 6: Clean water and sanitation; and Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities.

A similar case was dealt with in Toroto. As an implementing partner of Grupo Modelo for the Aguas Firmes program, they relied on SBn to increase the infiltration capacity of the Apan aquifer, Hidalgo. Through reforestation with native species, the implementation of gabion dams for soil retention and the establishment of living barriers to face water erosion, not only was the infiltration capacity improved, but these actions also added to the reduction of eroded soil in the town. Finally, they worked with the support of those who will receive all these benefits: the local owners of the land. For this project, at least two SDGs were addressed: the Goal 2: Zero hunger, since the project contributed to increasing the income of farming families in the region through the creation of secure and equitable access to resources; and the Goal 15: Life in terrestrial ecosystems, since it sought to promote the restoration of ecosystems of high ecological and social value.

We have seen that the Sustainable Development Goals and nature-based solutions have a common characteristic: to generate both social and environmental benefits, so that together they form a relevant strategy for mitigating the effects of climate change, the ecological restoration of the planet and the construction of a sustainable future. In the case studies mentioned above, the need for the collaboration of actors to generate real and effective change is clear. It is a collaborative work; a mechanism that does not work if one of its parts is not present. We must recognize the meaning of Objective 17: [Generate] alliances to achieve the objectives. In other words, an individual contribution is necessary, but a collective contribution is indispensable. In this sense, citizen participation is fundamental, as an important engine of link generation and decision-making; the responsibility of governments to provide secure means to achieve objectives; the financing of investors for the execution of ideas and actions; and the support of companies dedicated to the common benefit. Without alliance there are no global objectives, and without global objectives, there is no future for the planet and its inhabitants.

References

Carmona, E., Y Torres, C. (January-June 2014). The agricultural sustainability of chinampas in the Valley of Mexico: The Xochimilco case. Mexican Journal of Agribusiness. 34, 699-709. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/141/14131514005.pdf

Díaz del Campo, A. (s. f.). Chinampas, an ancient form of organic agriculture. Virtual Legal Library of the Institute for Legal Research of the UNAM. https://archivos.juridicas.unam.mx/www/bjv/libros/7/3479/32.pdf

IUCN. Global Standard for Nature-Based Solutions. IUCN. https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/2019/global_standard_for_nature-based_solutions_spanish_2.pdf

_____ (July 14, 2017). What are Nature-Based Solutions? IUCN. https://www.iucn.org/node/28778

Oliver, E., Ozment, S., and Grünwaldt, A. (2021). Nature-Based Solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean: Support from the Inter-American Development Bank. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and World Resources Institute. https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Soluciones-basadas-en-la-naturaleza-en-America-Latina-y-el-Caribe-apoyo-del-Banco-Interamericano-de-Desarrollo.pdf

UN (s.f.). Sustainable Development Goals. 17 goals to transform our world. A. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/es/

Seddon, N., Chausson, A., Berry, P., Girarding, C.A.J., Smith, A., and Turner, B. (2020). Understanding the value and limits of nature-based solutions to climate change and other global challenges. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 375. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2019.0120