"NbS facts and figures" refers to evidence-based information about the benefits, features, and outcomes associated with nature-based solutions (NbS) to address environmental, societal, and financial challenges. They might include quantifiable data, statistics, and information related to the effectiveness and impact of specific NbS and how they contribute to overall environmental sustainability.
This page contains a first prototype of the NbS Facts web-tool. Further updates will include facility for users to contribute their own facts to the database.
Displaying 201 - 237 of 237
| Definition | Theme | Priority Themes | Ecosystems | Target Sector | Societal challenges | Country | Source | |
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| There is also some local evidence that synergies exist between ecosystem health and socioeconomic development. Following the implementation of a water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin, the deterioration of ecosystems downstream was substantially alleviated, sustaining both ecological health and socioeconomic development. Cao et al. estimated that the returns on investment from the Three North Shelter Forest System Project, the Natural Forest Conservation Program, and the Grain-for-Green Program were 29.3, 328.9, and 77.0%, respectively. | Sustainable finance, investment and just transition | Rivers, lakes and ponds | NBS investors and entrepreneurs |
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China | |||
| In a study conducted by Kondo et al., it was found that a five-percentage-point increase in tree canopy might result in a 302-death decrease every year, worth USD 29 billion in Philadelphia. Moreover, a 10% increase in canopy over the city was linked to a USD 36 billion reduction in mortality. If Philadelphia achieves its objective of raising tree canopy cover to 30% by 2025, 403 premature adult deaths (i.e., 3% of total mortality) might be avoided annually. | Zero pollution | Urban ecosystems | National and EU policy-makers |
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United States | |||
| Previous studies have shown that green roofs and green walls are effective to reduce pollution in streets. Green walls, for instance, have been shown to reduce NO2 levels at the street level by up to 40% and PM10 levels by 60%, according to researchers at Lancaster University. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United Kingdom | |||
| Investments in NbS can deliver environmental and social benefits and go hand-in-hand with COVID-19 recovery, and studies have also shown they can deliver significant economic benefits. For example, the restoration and rehabilitation of grasslands and woodlands have been shown to have benefit to cost ratios of up to 35 and internal rates of return of 20–60 percent. Another study found that in Viet Nam the restoration of 12,000 ha of mangroves has been estimated to save USD7.3 million/year in dyke maintenance, and in Fiji, an assessment showed that watershed management options are at least twice as cost-effective compared to ‘hard’ engineering options. | Sustainable finance, investment and just transition | Grassland | NBS investors and entrepreneurs |
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Vietnam | https://www.asiapacificadapt.net/adaptationforum2020/wp-content/uploads… |
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| Across 4 sections of Philadelphia, 4,436 vacant lots totalingmore than 7.8 million square feet (about 725,000m2) were greened from 1999 to 2008. The authors showed that vacant lot greening was associated with consistent reductions in gun assaults across all 4 sections of the city (P < 0.001) and consistent reductions in vandalism in 1 section of the city (P < 0.001). They also showed that vacant lot greening was associated with residents reporting less stress and more exercise in select sections of the city (P < 0.01). | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United States | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| A number of studies were conducted around street trees and health in New York, United States. Lovasi et al. found that an increase in tree density of 1 standard deviation [(SD) 343 trees per km2] was associated with a lower prevalence of asthma [relative risk (RR), 0.71 per SD of tree density; 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.64–0.79)] but not with hospitalizations for asthma [RR = 0.89 per SD of tree density; 95% CI (0.75–1.06)] in children in New York. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United States | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Children living in areas with more street trees were more physically active, and those living in areas with more park access had smaller skinfolds. A higher density of street trees (at the 75th versus 25th percentile) was associated with a 12% lower prevalence of obesity [95% CI for the prevalence ration (PR): 322 Nieuwenhuijsen 0.79–0.99]. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United States | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Reid et al. (34) found higher reporting of “very good” or “excellent” health for respondents with the highest, compared with the lowest, quartiles of trees [RR = 1.23, 95% CI (1.06–1.44)] in adults. Findings imply that higher exposure to vegetation, particularly trees outside of parks, may be associated with better health. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United States | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| In Toronto, Canada, Kardan et al. found that having 10 more trees in a city block, on average, improved health perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $10,000 and moving to a neighborhood with a $10,000 higher median income or being 7 years younger. They also found that having 11 more trees in a city block, on average, decreased cardiometabolic conditions in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $20,000 and moving to a neighborhood with a $20,000 higher median income or being 1.4 years younger. | Sustainable finance, investment and just transition | Urban ecosystems | NBS investors and entrepreneurs |
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Canada | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Tsai et al. found that street tree cover was consistently protective for healthy weight status. Every 10% increase in street tree cover within 2,000 m was associated with 18% lower odds of being overweight or obese [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.82, 95% CI (0.81–0.84) in Phoenix; 0.82, 95% CI (0.81 – 0.83) in Portland]. When compared with residents with less than 10% street tree cover within 2,000 m, those with greater than 10% tree cover had at least 13% [AOR = 0.87 for Portland, 95% CI (0.81–0.92)] lower odds of being overweight or obese. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United States | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| In São Paulo, Brazil, Moreira et al. found that the number of street trees in the regional governments (OR = 0.937) and the number of parks within 1 km (OR = 0.876) were inversely associated with a diagnosis of hypertension. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Brazil | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Dadvand et al. found that residential proximity to forests was associated with 39% and 25% lower relative prevalence of excessive screen time and overweight/obesity, respectively, but was not associated with current asthma in children in Sabadell, Spain. In contrast, living close to parks was associated with a 60% higher relative prevalence of current asthma but had only weak negative associations with obesity/overweight or excessive screen time. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Spain | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Andrusaityte et al. found that every additional hour of time spent in parks was associated with decreased sedentary behavior and a lower risk of poor health, and less time spent in a park was associated with poorer general and mental health among 4–6-year-old children in Kaunas, Lithuania. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Lithuania | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Bojorquez & Ojeda-Revah found that public parks improved mental health and suggest that this effect could be more important at some stages in the life course for women.Urban public park coverage in the 400-m buffer had an inverse association with depression score that was moderated by age (significant only for younger participants), with no evidence of mediation. Park coverage in the 800-m buffer also had an inverse association with depression score, moderated by age and occupation (significant for younger participants and homemakers), and a mediated association was observed. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Wood et al. found that positivemental health was associated not only with parks with a nature focus but also with green spaces characterized by recreational and sporting activity, whereas Min et al. reported that those living in regions with the lowest number of parks and green areas (fourth quartile) had 16–27% greater odds for depression and suicidal indicators. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| Kondo et al. estimated that 403 [95% CI (298–618)] premature deaths overall, including 244 [95% CI (180–373)] premature deaths in areas of lower socioeconomic status, could be prevented annually in Philadelphia if the city were able to meet its goal of increasing tree canopy cover to 30%. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United States | https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annure… |
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| People value green space and are increasingly willing to pay for it. Donovan and Butry found that house prices in Portland, OR, were on average US $8,870 higher if there were street trees and they sold 1.7 days faster. | Sustainable finance, investment and just transition | Urban ecosystems | NBS investors and entrepreneurs |
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United States | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Tallis et al. found that the tree canopy of the urban forest in the Greater London Area removed between 852 and 2,121 tones of PM10 annually, which equates to between 0.7% and 1.4% PM10 air-quality improvement. Regional plans to increase tree cover from the current 20% to 30% are expected to remove 1.1% to 2.6% of PM10 by 2050. | Zero pollution | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United Kingdom | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Dadvand et al. found a reduction of around 5 μg/m3 in personal exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 in pregnant women in Barcelona per interquartile range of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The former study is an example of the possible filtering effect of green space, and the effect is generally fairly small. The latter shows that the combined effects of filtering and replacement of mobile pollution sources by green space can be larger. | Zero pollution | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Spain | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Green space also reduces temperature in cities, and therefore reduces the urban heat island effect. In a meta-analysis, Bowler et al. found a 1°C reduction in temperature when comparing temperatures in parks with urban areas. | Climate change adaptation, mitigation and climate resilience | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| There are examples of beneficial associations, such as a recent large Australian study, which found that with an increase in the percentage of green space, the odds of moderate to vigorous physical activity increased by up to 30%. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Australia | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| In subjects who initially underwent a stressful interview, Jiang et al. found that the percentage of tree cover in videos (ranging from 2%–61%) was directly related in an exposure response fashion with stress recovery. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Triguero-Mas et al. found a 10% to 20% reduction in perceived risk of poor mental health, perceived depression and/or anxiety, and intake of tranquilizers or sedatives, antidepressants, and sleeping medications per interquartile range increase in average normalized difference vegetation index around the homes, suggesting that substantial health benefits are possible. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Alcock et al. used a longitudinal design by following up the mental health status of people moving house. They found an improvement of mental health scores for those moving to greener areas, with effects lasting at least 3 years, and deterioration in mental scores for those moving to less green areas. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Green space may reduce health inequalities emanating from differences in socioeconomic status. Mitchell et al. found a 20% difference in mental well-being when comparing the most and least financially strained among those who had great difficulty with access to green space, while the difference was only 11.9% for those with very easy access to green space. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| Dadvand et al. measured the cognitive development of children 7 to 10 years old using repeated computer tests over a year and found a 6% better development of the working memory and superior working memory among those in the highest tertiles of greenness in school compared with those in the lowest tertile of greenness. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| A seminal study on the relationship between green space and all-cause mortality in the United Kingdom found that allcause mortality was around 6% lower in the highest quintile of green space compared with the lowest quintile. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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United Kingdom | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| A natural experiment reported by Donovan et al., in which they evaluated the effect of the loss of 100 million trees to the emerald ash borer, an invasive forest pest on mortality, found that the presence of the borer was associated with 6.8 additional deaths per 100,000 adults and 16.7 additional cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 adults. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| In meta-analyses of green space and mortality, Gascon et al. found an 8% reduction in all-cause mortality and a 4% reduction in cardiovascular mortality when comparing the highest with the lowest exposure group of green space. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| De Vries et al. estimated the contribution of different potential mediators of green space on health (stress, social cohesion, and green physical activity) to general health, acute complaints, and mental health and found that stress and social cohesion contributed the most to the outcomes (around 20%– 40%), while green physical activity contributed less than 10%. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Not found | https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2017/01000/fifty_shades_of_gre… |
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| The Gobi Desert in China has expanded for years, with almost 7 million ha affected in the 1960s and 1970s, influencing twice the area of agricultural land due to wind erosion. The government has tried various strategiesto solve this issue. The programme began in 1978 and is aimed for completion in 2050, to create a vast new forest, increasing forest cover from 5 to 15 per cent. Almost 10 million ha of grassland have been restored and over 5 million tonnes of fuelwood produced every year, thus also reducing loss of native forests. | Biodiversity enhancement and ecosystem restoration | Grassland | National and EU policy-makers |
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China | https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2022-046… |
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| The Tree North Shelterbed Forest Program has permanently treated nearly 20% of the desert land, protecting and restoring nearly 10 million ha of grasslands that were severely affected by desertification and salinization. Soil erosion was halted in 40% of the area. | Biodiversity enhancement and ecosystem restoration | Grassland | National and EU policy-makers |
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China | https://ap-plat.nies.go.jp/inas/goodpractices/development/7.html |
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| The Tree North Shelterbed Forest Program was able to provide fuelwood with an annual output of 5.47 million tonnes, by the introduction of innovative forestry management techniques, and in addition, deforestation driven by fuelwood needs was significantly reduced. TNSFP has protected 21.3 million ha of farmland from being affected by wind erosion and related impacts. As a result, some of the regions in the project location were ranked among the top three major agricultural regions in China. | Sustainable food systems (including soil and agriculture) | Cropland | National and EU policy-makers |
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China | https://ap-plat.nies.go.jp/inas/goodpractices/development/7.html |
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| In 2016, Medellín City started the Green Corridor project that aimed to expand greenery in public spaces in the city. The reason why this project used the term ‘Corridor’ is because the project goal was to provide an interconnected 20-km network of shade by transforming 18 roads and 12 waterways into a green space. By doing so, the city achieved a reduction in the average temperature by 3.5°C (from 31.6°C to 28.1°C) and the average surface temperature by 10.3°C (from 40.5°C to 30.2°C) over three years. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Colombia | https://ap-plat.nies.go.jp/inas/goodpractices/development/5.html |
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| The Medellín Green Corridor project has had a significant impact on improving air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the PM2.5 level was reduced by 1.55 μg/m3 (from 21.81 µg/m3 to 20.26 µg/m3). The health benefits of expanding green spaces were also confirmed; the city's morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 (per 1,000 people). | Zero pollution | Urban ecosystems | Local and sub-national governments and their public authorities |
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Colombia | https://ap-plat.nies.go.jp/inas/goodpractices/development/5.html |
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| It has been demonstrated that air samples downwind from biodiverse sources (for example, species-rich plant communities) contain more diverse microbial communities than upwind, with ~50% of airborne bacteria in downwind samples deriving from local plant sources. Therefore, a relatively simple intervention for urban designers could be to develop public spaces and buildings downwind from (macro) biodiverse sources and integrate local biodiverse sources within building structures and spaces. | Sustainable urban and regional transformation | Urban ecosystems | Infrastructure planners and developers |
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Not found | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360608865_Microbiome-inspired_… |
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| Chang-Ho Kang and others (2016) showed that the synergistic combination of bacterial strains was effective at sequestering lead (98.3% effective) and cadmium (85.4%) in soils. Biofilters are being developed that embed bacterial biofilms to absorb heavy metal ions.60 In terms of MIGI, thiskind of strategy could bedeveloped with SustainableDrainage Systems in mind, for example, a biofilter embedded rain garden. | Sustainable food systems (including soil and agriculture) | Urban ecosystems | Infrastructure planners and developers |
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Not found | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360608865_Microbiome-inspired_… |