Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

Nature-Based Solutions Case Study Search

This database contains over 400 implementations of nature-based solutions. Use the filters to identify the case studies most relevant to you.

While all cases here exemplify applications of NBS strategies, they were gathered from various sources and not all were written using the framing of nature-based solutions. To qualify as a nature-based solution, a project must provide benefits to both people and nature. In some instances, the human benefits are present but not emphasized in the case write ups; these cases were included because they still provide useful information to learn from.

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The Sonoran Desert ecosystem was degraded by agricultural development and groundwater pumping from the 1930s to 1970s. This project sought to restore the lowland desert by reestablishing perennial shrubs. The team determined historic species composition on a study site, acquiring seeds of those species, introduce them to the site, and provide them with extra water for establishment.

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Ah Pah Creek is a fourth order stream with a 16.3 square mile watershed composed entirely of steep, forested land that was degraded by road and highway construction. Yoruk Tribal Fisheries Program (YTFP) and the California Conservation Corps (CCC) collaborated to address riparian restoration needs within the drainage, including extensive riparian conifer planting in its three major tributaries.

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In 2007 the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) initiated an experimental research project, called the 38th St. Bridge Project, on the rip-rap slope along the streambanks in order to demonstrate an alternative to the county's annual mowing-and-spraying of herbicide to control invasive species along the streambank.

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In northern Wisconsin, tribal foresters from the Menominee Nation are working to speed regeneration of more than 200,000 acres of forest areas that have been treated for invasive diseases like oak wilt. Their efforts are also creating forests that are better adapted to future conditions.

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Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations are declining in Utah and other western states due to the degradation of their seasonal habitats from the encroachment of pinyon-juniper trees. This project evaluated the ecological viability of using "lop and scatter" methods to mechanically remove encroaching PJ trees to manage sage-grouse winter habitat at a study site in Ashley National Forest.

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Encompassing some of the wildest and least populated territory in the state, the Klamath region of Northern California faces threats from invasive species in its wildland ecosystems. To protect the forests and rivers, restoration efforts began by applying county-scale mapping tool to identify and treat high-priority eradication target.

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Arden Park is along Minnehaha Creek, an impaired waterway that is a tributary to the Mississippi River. This park is in a highly developed suburb just south of Minneapolis (Edina). This project improved the park and restored a section of the creek, improving habitat, water quality, and recreation opportunities. 

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The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in June of 1984. The project aimed to restore the restore spring sources and outflow channels and associated riparian habitats that were previously degraded by agriculture, road-building, and water diversions, and now were dominated by invasive species. 

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This project, implemented by the NC Division of Water Quality and NC Division of Forest Resources, aimed to reduce nitrogen and mercury loading of downstream waters in the Albemarle/Palmico estuary system by restoring wetland hydrology and native bog vegetation to a 640-acre research area. Activities included installation of water-control structures and replanting 100,000 trees.

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The coastal marsh habitat in Blair Island, San Francisco was impaired by construction of salt ponds and dirt levees before its ecological value was recognized. The project aimed to restore the 1, 400 acres of diked marsh to tidal marsh primarily by breaching the perimeter levees to allow tidal action via surrounding slough channels.

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In 2003, NOAA led a partnership that restored a 0.8-acre salt marsh in Bar Beach Lagoon, North Hempstead, New York, as part of a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) settlement addressing natural resource injury damages due to release of contaminants into Hempstead Harbor. 

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Barataria Basin, just south of New Orleans, Louisiana contains marshes that are rapidly subsiding from leveeing of the Mississippi River and loss of regular sediment depositions. The marsh received sediment from a nearby location to increase elevation and relieve plant stress. This restoration effort increased aboveground biomass and accretion rates. 

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Bayou La Branche, originally a brackish marshland, was levied and pumped into farmland before flooded into a large, open-water pond after the 1915 Hurricane. USACE and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources aimed to re-create the marsh habitat with an area of 70% land and 30% water within 5 years of construction.

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A tidal marsh in Bayou Lafourche, Louisiana was degrading due to subsidence and sea-level rise, as well as a drought-induced die-off of Spartina alterniflora. 7.5 hectares of marsh was restored using thin-layer placement of dredged material. Sediment placement improved the recovery of the marsh and increased plant biomass. 

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The iconic and productive Sonoran Desert landscapes of the Tuscon Basin are threatened by Buffelgrass, an invasive species introduced to the area in the 1930s. Buffelgrass alters the fire regime and is a threat to ecosystems, and human life and property. The Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center was established in 2008 to bring stakeholders together to remove Buffelgrass effectively.  

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Bird Track Springs is a 2-mile reach of the Upper Grande Ronde River in eastern Oregon that has been degraded and altered by human activity. The once multi-threaded, well-connected river and floodplain became a single-threaded river with little connectivity and degraded habitat. This project aims to reconnect the river to its floodplain, increase habitat complexity, and restore salmonid populations. 

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The Blue Hole Cienega Restoration Project aims to restore the Blue Hole Ciénega, one of the largest remaining ciénegas in the Southwest. Close to 95% of ciénegas have been lost or damaged due to farming, overgrazing, draining, channelization, and drying during development.

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Warming temperatures threaten native species in the Madrean Sky Islands Archipelago as plants and animals cannot migrate to higher elevation under the steep slope and finite extents. Conservation organizations collaboratively document the climate vulnerability of mountain springs and facilitates restoration work to enhance habitats and protect biodiversity.

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Buffalo Slough Island in Sturgeon Lake is home to important cultural resources for the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC). The island was experiencing erosion and habitat loss, until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the PIIC signed a project partnership agreement to restore the island.  

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Saguaro National Park, in the Sonoran Desert near Tuscon, Arizona, is threatened by invasive perennial grasses. These grasses outcompete native plants and heighten the risk of wildfires, a disturbance that the park’s ecosystem is not adapted to. Park managers want to remove invasive grasses and restore native species landscapes. 

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