Overview

This ‘Nature-based Solutions’ opportunity provides funding to teams who would like to develop a service related to nature-based solutions applications. Funding will be provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) for 6-month studies called ‘Kick-Starts’, which can lead onto larger scale Demonstration Projects. Kick-Starts are funded at 75% by ESA for a maximum of €75K per contract. Proposed services must use satellite data or space-based technologies. Please see the ‘Authorisation of Funding’ section below to check whether your team is eligible for funding.

Scope

The Anthropocene poses some serious obstacles for society — climate change, threatened biodiversity, and ensuring human health and wellbeing are all momentous challenges that will define the 21st century. To move forward, these interdependent challenges need to be addressed together through synergistic solutions.

Nature-based Solutions (NBS) leverage the power of healthy ecosystems to enhance protections for society, optimise infrastructure, and ensure a biodiverse future. Take for example, the environmental and social co-benefits that come with green infrastructure, including carbon storage, air and water quality improvements compared to cities without green infrastructure. As a result of the promise of NBS, it has been endorsed at the highest levels, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Global Centre on Adaptation, and has been highlighted as a key action under the UN Climate Action Summit 2019.

The exploitable applications for NBS are wide-ranging and span many verticals. There is currently interest and demand for solutions that improve the efficiency in planning, implementing, and monitoring of ecosystem services. This is reflected in the growing number of data-driven tools that are reducing the technical barriers in quantifying the benefits from natural systems, many of which are driven by satellite-derived data.

There is significant scope for NBS management and implementation to benefit from digital technologies such as AI and IoT devices leveraged by space assets such as satellite Earth observation (SatEO), satellite navigation (Satnav), and satellite communications (Satcom). This includes the use of satellite imagery to highlight areas for ecosystem restoration, monitor green spaces for changes in habitat condition, engage Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services to geo-reference sites for NBS, as well as supporting the monitoring of systems that foster biodiversity through communication/IoT services.

Topics of Relevance

Some relevant topics that have been identified for this Kick-Start are outlined below:

Ecosystem restoration

In 2011, the global value of ecosystem services was estimated to average $125 trillion/yr. The widespread recognition of ecosystem services in recent decades has reframed the relationship between humans and nature. It has given a better understanding of the role nature plays as a critical component of human wellbeing and sustainability. The valuation of ecosystem services is not the same as privatising or commodifying them, as most ecosystem services are public or common assets. Rather, the valuation of ecosystem services is a reflection on the contribution of nature to society.

A wide range of ecosystem services are and will be affected by a spectrum of anthropogenic factors in the near to medium future. Pressures are and will be measurable on a local scale, such as the release of excess nutrients from intensive arable practices into water bodies, causing eutrophication and subsequent biodiversity loss. Pressures are and will also be measurable on a global scale, such as the loss of ecosystems to changing land use and the rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, these pressures will not be felt equally everywhere. It is likely that the impact on ecosystem services will be asymmetrical — affecting the most vulnerable human populations first.

Space applications can help improve ecosystem monitoring and restoration efforts. A list of potential applications can be found below:

• biodiversity monitoring services, informing on the type and variation in species and / or indices for ecosystem services
• planning of restoration efforts
• change detection services to monitor ecosystem restoration efforts over time and / or the value offered by ecosystem services by comparing intervened to non-intervened sites

Potential users include, for instance, public authorities, environmental organisations, policy makers and corporates in sectors such as agriculture.

Urban resilience

Most cities in the world are inherently polluting and affect both human health and the environment, which is largely a consequence of urban population growth. Over 50% of the global population now live in urban areas, which is predicted to rise to 70% by 2050. Yet, record climate extremes are reducing urban liveability and threatening infrastructure. It is certain that cities will soon come under greater strain to remain sustainable whilst also supporting their growing population. As a result, there is increasing interest in incorporating ecosystems into urban planning and design to enhance urban liveability. This includes ecological services such as the use of green corridors to enable dispersal of plants and animals whilst also improving stormwater management or increasing green cover to lower the temperature of cities and provide shade in times of heatwaves.

Municipalities and governments have been turning to new and innovative solutions that make use of technological and nature-based measures, providing co-benefits in addressing complex socioecological issues. In England, since January 2024 developers are required to deliver 10% “Biodiversity Net Gain” when building new housing, industrial or commercial developments. This means they are legally obligated by law to deliver a net positive for the local environment, for example by creating new habitats and green spaces. Biodiversity Net Gain for small sites will still be applicable from April 2024, and implementation for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects remains planned for 2025. Municipalities around the world are also adopting similar policies, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Singapore, San Francisco, and Vancouver.