Actions to protect, conserve, and regenerate ecosystem services to develop resilience to climate change, uplift our biodiversity, grow our economy, and deliver human wellbeing and cultural co-benefits.
The worsening crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation are inherently interconnected; and so are the solutions. Healthy and functioning natural ecosystems are the first line of defence against coastal inundation, landslides, erosion, land subsidence, and drought; providing resilience to our homes, landscapes, and the natural resources on which our economy and communities depend.
While ‘grey’ infrastructure depreciates over time, equivalent ‘blue-green’ infrastructure improves ecosystem services, increases project value, and offers on-going ancillary benefits.
Boffa Miskell offers a diverse wealth of experience in delivering cost-effective responses to climate-related natural hazards in New Zealand and the Pacific. For over 50 years, across Nature and Climate Change, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, Planning, Urban Design and Engagement, we have worked collaboratively in strategic spatial planning and the implementation of nature-based solutions across communities, cities, and regions.
We take a comprehensive approach, considering infrastructure resilience, carbon reduction, biodiversity protection, economic feasibility, and cultural outcomes and benefits. Solutions include:
- Working alongside communities, iwi, and Councils to assess climate change risk and implement nature-based adaptations.
- Enhancing coastal defences, applying natural physical processes and responding to existing and evolving landscape values and community uses.
- Developing blue-green infrastructure networks across regions and local catchments, from headwaters to coastal plains, to provide resilience to extreme events and integrate the values of restored natural landscapes.
- Working with landowners and restoration entities to develop market-driven funding for ecological conservation, applying ESG reporting and producing accredited nature certification/credits.
- Developing self-supporting and nature-positive productive landscapes across forestry, cropping, pastoral farming, and agri-tech.
- Protecting, restoring, and maintaining private and public conservation estates to provide resilience to natural and cultural heritage.
- Providing national-level and project-scale advice and implementation for biosecurity and pest management to enhance natural capital and heritage and bolster natural carbon sinks.
- Remediating natural water supply systems, as they are integrated within the three waters infrastructure, to sustain water quantity and quality outcomes.
- Water-sensitive design solutions to catchment management, including land use planning, construction of appropriate nature-based (bio-retention) devices, and remediation and management of freshwater systems.
Nature‑based solutions address climate change by integrating land‑use management and natural and cultural values into infrastructure planning. Unlike conventional built infrastructure, which can be costly to maintain and slow to adapt to changing conditions, these holistic approaches provide flexible, long‑term benefits that increase in value over time.
