Abstract
Floodplain restoration measures are among the most well-known nature-based solutions for flood risk reduction but practitioners see their limitations in comparison to technical measures when considering both their effectiveness and profitability. The aim of this study is to show the co-benefits (besides flood risk reduction) of floodplain restoration and handle them in terms of monetized ecosystem services (ES). Our work focused on six ES groups for three study areas in the Danube catchment along the Krka, Morava, and Danube rivers. ES mapping through stakeholder engagement is also considered. We applied the methodologies suggested in the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment (TESSA) complemented with alternative methodologies (e.g., questionnaires on social media). Results show annual combined benefits of floodplain restoration in a range from 237,000 USD2019 at Krka to 3.1 million USD2019 at Morava, suggesting the utility of ES assessment. The combination of stakeholder workshops and the TESSA guidelines, as well as the newly developed methods, were all central tools to provide decision-makers with arguments to use nature-based solutions for an integrated and holistic riparian land use management.
Highlights
Published: 1 February 2021Floodplains are of great value for humanity and ecology but are worldwide disappearing
For all three study sites and for both scenarios, the largest carbon stock is represented by soil organic matter and the smallest by either below-ground biomass (BGB) or litter and dead wood carbon
This would lead to a win of stock monetary value in the area of 0.4
Summary
Published: 1 February 2021Floodplains are of great value for humanity and ecology but are worldwide disappearing. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines nature-based solutions (NBS) as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits” [2]. In this context, floodplain restoration is an increasingly popular NBS that consists in different soft engineering approaches combining the preservation or improvement of biodiversity and the increase of flood risk resilience. Examples of restoration measures include re-meandering of the main river channel, increasing the floodplain width, and removing artificial dykes or other obstructions to flood flows [3]
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