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What are nature-based climate solutions (NbCS)? Nature-based climate solutions include a range of activities which help the natural world return to doing what it does best - reaching stability and balance.

Healthy ecosystems, which are diverse and complex networks of living things including plants and animals, naturally capture and store carbon dioxide (the main driver of global climate change, which humans release through industrialized activities). Some researchers estimate that nature-based solutions, which help restore healthy ecosystems, can boost progress towards addressing climate change by up to 30%.

Strong ecosystems can also help lessen the impact of climate change on our communities by providing important buffers to storms and flooding, and fostering cooler temperatures. In this way, nature-based climate solutions are both a tool for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as well as for protecting human health and well-being, supporting clean air and water, and strengthening local economies.

It’s important to recognize that this emerging field of “nature-based climate solutions” is just catching-up with Indigenous Knowledge & Traditional Ecological Knowledge that has been active for millennia and passed down through generations.

Read about why nature-based solutions are the “missing link” in solving the climate crisis from the City of Boulder’s own Brett Kencairn.