Nature-based solutions priorities and potential measures

The Strategy aims to enhance our resilience to climate change, deliver environmental improvements, address health and societal inequalities, and promote wellbeing, through the safeguarding, management and restoration of the county’s ecosystems that provide these nature-based solutions.

Delivering the habitat-based priorities and their associated measures will maximise the opportunities to realise the benefits they bring in terms of nature-based solutions. Where relevant, potential measures have specifically been mapped to where these benefits are most needed – that is, focusing on areas of flood risk, poor water quality and supply, poor air quality, urban heating, and where the benefits of increasing and improving access to green space would be most keenly felt.  In addition to these habitat-based priorities for nature-based solutions, this Strategy also promotes the below overarching priorities to be applied across the county.

There are no specific potential measures for these priorities – they will be delivered through the action taken across other ambitions. You can find nature-based solution related measures in the searchable measures listings – select nature-based solutions from the drop-down in the principle column.

NBS1 – Increase the extent of carbon sequestering habitats in the county (woodlands, saltmarshes, heathlands and grasslands), which are purposefully managed to function as a carbon store while prioritising a nature recovery function.

NBS2 – Safeguard from loss, and increase the functionality, and extent of, habitats delivering critical ecosystem services in the county.

NBS3 – Improve soil health and structure by enhanced and increased soil management, so that it is delivering better for invertebrates, carbon sequestration, water retention and management, and production and provisioning services.