Native Plant Conservation Campaign News: Bothered by floods, droughts, storms, disease, famine, climate change? Native plants help fix it! The U.N. says so!

August 29, 2018

 

The Native Plant Conservation Campaign has worked to educate the public and policymakers about the invaluable ecosystem services delivered by healthy, diverse locally adapted native plant communities. Conservation and restoration of native plant communities can provide solutions to many of the planet’s most serious environmental challenges, such as water quality and supply, food security, floods and drought, climate change, etc.  

 

Two important 2018 water reports demonstrate that understanding of the immense benefits offered by native plant communities is expanding – and this improved understanding is spreading far beyond the botanical and scientific communities into powerful global institutions.

 

A new World Wildlife Fund report– Valuing Rivers How The Diverse Benefits Of Healthy Rivers Underpin Economies, released August 26, makes it clear that safe, sustainable management of rivers depends on conservation and restoration of the native plant communities with which they are connected.

 

In one example, the WWF reports that 4% of South Africa’s water supply is currently lost to non-native plants, “Non-native species‚ such as eucalyptus‚ are ‘thirstier’ than the native plants they have replaced‚ sucking up through their roots and evaporating an additional 1.4-trillion litres of water per year.”

 

The report, which was released at the opening of 2018 World Water Week, also noted that managing for locally adapted natives has benefits beyond stabilizing the water supply: “The broader effort of clearing non-native vegetation to boost water supplies has also employed tens of thousands of people‚ an important co-benefit in a country (South Africa) with 26% unemployment.”

 

Earlier this year on U.N. World Water Day, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released the United Nations World Water Development Report 2018 – Nature Based Solutions for Water. The report focuses on the need for increased use of “Nature Based Solutions” to address water management problems including drought, floods, storms, water pollution, and water borne diseases.

 

The central message of the report is that "Nature Based Solutions, such as planting trees to replenish forests, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, and restoring wetlands, is a sustainable and cost-effective way to help rebalance the water cycle, mitigate the effects of climate change and improve human health and livelihoods." 

 

The UNESCO report defines Nature Based Solutions as those which “use or mimic natural processes to enhance water availability (e.g., soil moisture retention, groundwater recharge), improve water quality (e.g., natural and constructed wetlands, riparian buffer strips), and reduce risks associated with water‐related disasters and climate change (e.g., floodplain restoration, green roofs)."

 

Nature Based Solutions, therefore, is the aggregate of the many ecosystem services delivered by native plant communities.

 

The UNESCO Report Concludes:

 

 

NOTE: As we have reported, this understanding of the importance of native plant ecosystem services (or Nature Based Solutions) is also reflected in the growing number of local and state governments that are adopting “natives first” policies and projects. We chronicle these initiatives in our Native Plants in the News section of the NPCC website. Examples include: