The Portland Water District conducted a green-gray analysis to compare natural versus gray infrastructure for an EPA-granted filtration system to improve Sebago Lake's water quality. They ultimately chose to invest in forest-based natural infrastructure, including restoring riparian buffers and reforesting riparian zones.
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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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Dams in the Penobscot River have prevented fish passage from the Gulf of Maine for centuries. To restore connectivity, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust built the largest nature-based fish bypass channel in the United States. This project will help restore Atlantic Salmon populations, and the cultural heritage of the Penobscot Nation.
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Nesting herring and great black-backed gulls (Larus argentatus and Larus marinus) were removed from a recently abandoned tern (Sterna sp.) colony in the Gulf of Maine through a combination of poisoning and shooting. All three species of tern that had nested in the colony prior to the arrival of the gulls returned and nested in increasing numbers.
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The New England Cottontail Project is a restoration effort with the objective to restore the New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) to their native habitats through the creation of young forest and captive breeding programs. Led by USFWS, young forests were created through tree/ shrub cutting, heavy-duty mowing/mulching, field mowing, forest harvesting, controlling invasive plants, and prescribed burning.
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Before the national park was established, Acadia’s wetlands have been dredged, ditched, or filled in, making them susceptible to invasive species, among which glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) has become a particular threat. The NPS led the efforts for finding, removing, and researching invasive species in Acadia.
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In an effort to restore eleven species of sea-run fish while resuming energy production levels, state and federal agencies, businesses and non-profits bonded together to restore the Penobscot River watershed. Two dam removals and the construction of one fish by-pass, and one modernized fish ladder resulted in over 2,000 km of connected migratory fish passage.
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