The Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap for the United States

The Biden-Harris administration has made nature-based solutions (NbS) a priority, touting them in multiple executive orders (e.g., EO 14008 and 14072) and supporting funding for NbS projects through recent legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. In November, the administration released a roadmap for unlocking the potential of NbS in the United States.

In the fourth session of the Nature-Based Solutions: Current Issues webinar series, hear directly from two authors of the roadmap as they describe the development, contents, and rollout of this historic strategy to scale up NbS. Following the presentation, federal agency representatives provide insight into what the roadmap means for the future of their agencies’ programming.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges. These solutions are varied and multi-purpose, and are important tools to simultaneously benefit both people and nature. Interest in NbS is growing from both the public and private sectors, as is the desire to scale up implementation—so conversations around NbS effectiveness, execution, funding, and policies are more crucial than ever. Explore current NbS issues, discover promising practices, and hear from experts working in this field during a new webinar series: Nature-Based Solutions: Current Issues. The series is organized by the National Ecosystem Services Partnership (NESP) and the Resilience Roadmap project.

REFERENCES & RESOURCES:

• Biden-Harris Administration Resources:
  • Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap
  • Nature-Based Solutions Resource Guide
  • Joint statement of US and Australia on cooperation on Natural Capital Accounting
  • Federal register notice for information on the National Nature Assessment, and opportunities for in-person collaboration sessions on the National Nature Assessment in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and with the American Society of Civil Engineers
• EPA Resources:
  • EPA Green Infrastructure Website
  • EPA Climate Adaptation Resources
  • EPA Forest Resilience Bond
  • EPA resources and information on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
  • EPA Water Reuse Action Plan
• NOAA Resources:
  • NOAA Coastal Natural Infrastructure Website
  • NOAA Digital Coast
  • NOAA Green Infrastructure Effectiveness Database
  • NOAA Funding and Financing Coastal Resilience Webinar Series
• Additional Resources:
  • USACE Engineering with Nature Website
  • FEMA introduces alternative cost-effectiveness methodology for BRIC and FMA

• Heather Tallis, Assistant Director for Biodiversity and Conservation Sciences, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Lydia Olander, Director of Nature-based Resilience, White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Kim Penn, Acting Manager, Communities Program, NOAA Office for Coastal Management
• Stephanie Santell, Senior Climate Advisor, Office of Policy, Office of the Administrator, US Environmental Protection Agency