An Unusual Partnership for People and Nature

The 17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County, one of the few remaining large tracts of intact native coastal prairie and wetlands on the Texas coast. Photo © Jerod Foster for The Nature Conservancy

Standing in front of 200 insurance industry professionals felt strange, but “cool” to Siddharth Narayan. A coastal engineer studying natural coastal protections, such as wetlands and mangroves, he never expected to present his research to a packed room in the historic headquarters of insurance giant Lloyd’s of London. But Narayan and his audience had a common interest – reducing risk – and the research was not just his, but born of an unusual partnership between fellow engineers, ecologists and experts from the likes of the audience themselves, the insurance industry.

Their work is uncovering untapped, yet promising opportunities to safeguard coastal communities from storms and floods – through the marriage of insurance policies and habitat conservation. Amid growing interest in leveraging nature-based solutions to mitigate the intensities of climate change, this unconventional alliance has endeavored to determine the true (dollar) value of coastal habitats as natural defenses and to translate that value into risk-reduction incentives for conservation or restoration efforts.

By linking the unique […]

Full article: An Unusual Partnership for People and Nature

More about nature and water:

Nature is teaching … are we learning?

UN promotes nature-based solutions to growing water shortages

Water for people or nature is a false choice.

Nature Is Speaking – Harrison Ford is The Ocean

Nature Is Speaking – Ian Somerhalder is Coral Reef

We can see how humans have altered Earth’s water resources