Environmental projects and nature-based solutions
Considering nature from a different perspective
A new field is looking at nature and the biosphere as providers of services. The biosphere is the part of the planet where life exists. A third of what we eat and wear depends on pollination by bees. Bees are dying due to viruses, parasites, pesticides and climate change, and all of these factors have been blamed, as has modern monoculture agribusiness (Benjamin & McCallum, 2009).
Integrity of the biosphere
The integrity of the biosphere’s processes is essential for the preservation of life and humanity. Its importance underpins the approaches, measures and appropriate ways of taking the planet’s natural processes into account within the social sphere, including the economic sphere, given that there is also such a thing as natural capital and ecosystem services.
There are several possible definitions of natural capital, but a practical definition is ‘the elements of nature that produce value (directly and indirectly) for people’. Capital is any resource used in the production of goods or services. In their seminal 1997 study, Costanza and other researchers quantified the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital (Costanza et al., 1997).
Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contributions that ecosystems (known as natural capital) make to human well-being and quality of life. These can be practical, such as providing food and water and regulating the climate, and cultural, such as reducing stress and anxiety. The vast number of ecosystem services can be categorised into more manageable groups: provisioning, regulating, cultural and, somewhat more ambiguously, supporting services, as shown in the figures. Information on natural capital and ecosystem services (among other things) can contribute to the internalisation of the biosphere’s effects on human and economic activities, providing a basis for more effective sustainability.
Natural-based solutions
Nature-based solutions, which involve harnessing nature’s capabilities and working with it, have increasingly emerged as a promising avenue for greener solutions and the pursuit of sustainability. These solutions have been applied to various purposes, from water and flood control to wastewater treatment, landscaping services, and the integration of buildings and ecosystem services, as seen in the wastewater treatment plant in Alcântara (Lisbon), with its extensive green roof.
The IPA provides services to assess and integrate biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions, as well as nature-inspired, i.e. biomimetic, solutions.