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Nature-Based Solutions Tools Search

This database contains over 400 tools and resources that can help guide practitioners at various stages of the nature-based solutions project cycle. Use the filters to identify the tools and resources most useful to you.

You can filter the full list by the habitat type you’re working in, the nature-based solutions strategy you want to use, the project phase you are looking for help with, or the type of tool/resource you’re looking for.

The tools and resources shown here were gathered through a robust search of both federal and non-federal sources. We recognize that this library will never be completely comprehensive, but if you know of an important missing tool or resource, please email nesp@duke.edu.

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This guide is an abridged version of a longer guide available by request through NOAA's Office of Coastal Management. It summarizes the most common green infrastructure practices and how they may reduce flood risk, provides planning/implementation considerations, and a helpful chart to estimate an interventions water storage potential and associated costs.

This guide provides information on how to thin a ponderosa forest. This includes stocking rate, basal area, and deciding which trees to mark.

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This guide is tailored to restoration projects following commercial peat extraction. The authors cover restoration strategies based on the starting condition of the peatland, setting goals for the restored peatland, and the environmental impacts of rewetting peatlands.

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This is a step-by-step guide to conducting a prescribed burn from start to finish, with habitat management as the primary goal. It also offers specific technical guidelines.

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This resource focuses on mitigating risks associated with coral transplantation. Topics covered include disease transmission, ecological concerns, and genetic considerations.

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This guide is the comprehensive policy document for FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), HMGP Post Fire, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) programs.

EPA's Healthy Watersheds Program vision is to protect and maintain the aquatic ecological integrity of watersheds and supporting habitat networks to ensure that future generations may enjoy these resources and the social and economic benefits that they provide.The site includes several resource to design outreach plans, locate existing watershed restoration projects, and guidance on developing a watershed health index to evaluate your own watershed. 

FEMA's Community Rating System can be used to offer communities credits to reduce policyholders' flood insurance premiums when appropriate flood risk reduction measures are taken. One way to earn credits is through floodplain (open space) conservation. This guide explains how to earn credits in areas already under protection agreements and ways to earn additional credits.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to assist communities in implementing nature-based solutions and is especially useful for Community Planning and Development Fund recipients.

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This toolkit is a guide that helps recipients of HUD Community Planning and Development (CPD) funds identify opportunities to use their CPD dollars to mitigate the impacts of natural related hazards. The toolkit is divided into 6 separate sections, each related to a specific natural hazard. Each section provides an overview of the natural hazard as well as suggestions for different mitigation techniques that are eligible under different CPD programs. Additionally, the toolkit has a financing section with other funding opportunities for resilience projects.

Comprised of numerous detailed diagrams, this tool provides technical information for assessing a waterbody and determining the appropriate restoration technique. In depth information is also given about contractor relations and project execution.

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This website provides information to fire managers in the states surrounding the great lakes.

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Encompassing all aspects of large wood designs, this guide covers their geomorphic, hydrological, and ecological considerations. The authors also discuss the risks involved, regulatory considerations, and monitoring.

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This training encompasses the technical aspects of implementing and maintaining living shoreline creation projects. The authors provide in-depth design guidelines and information about the permitting process.

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The authors show how river restoration centers around restoring the hydrological processes that make a riverine system successful. The guide focuses on low-tech and cost-efficient solutions, including beaver dam analogs and assisted wood accumulation.

This guide explains how beaver management fits into larger river and stream restoration projects. Topics covered include designing BDAs, implementing projects, and restoring river health.

Focusing on the policy tools needed to implement an assisted marsh migration project, this website helps weigh the social and ecological concerns related to marsh migration. Additional topics covered include regulatory considerations, infrastructure removal, and planning tools.

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This best management practices guide describes practices for retaining or improving habitat connectivity for amphibians and reptiles in California.

Ecological and engineering principles for restoring wetlands, including site assessment, design and construction, vegetation establishment, and monitoring and ongoing management.

This website contains training programs to prepare fire managers from different government agencies to conduct safe and effective prescribed burns.

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