A MODEL APPROACH TO NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS DESIGN IN ESTUARIES

The implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) instead of conventional shoreline infrastructure is becoming increasingly popular because of the potential for NbS to trap sediment and reduce erosion, particularly in estuaries and on shorelines that are vulnerable to sea level rise and ongoing environmental change (Borsje et al., 2011). However, to provide confidence that the coastal protection services of NbS will be sufficient for long-term shoreline stabilisation and protection, technical guidance that quantifies the shoreline protection functionality with respect to biophysical changes is required. To this aim, a review of guidelines for the implementation of NbS in the intertidal zone of estuaries was undertaken. This review evaluated the available technical details and assessed whether existing standards and manuals can be used to quantify the NbS functionality (Dunlop et al., 2023).