Ecosystem-based adaptation project reduces flood risk in Seychelles

Nature-based solutions have huge potential to help communities cope with the impacts of climate change

The Seychelles, a small island developing state (SIDS) in the Indian Ocean, acutely feels the impacts of climate change.

The ongoing threat of rising sea levels means the nation, much like the Maldives, is effectively sinking, and that doesn’t bode well for the vast share of the country’s population who inhabit coastal zones.

But by using an adaptation strategy grounded in the use of natural resources, the Seychelles is strengthening its resilience to the changing climate.

An Adaptation Fund financed project, jointly implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and the Seychelles Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate rehabilitated wetlands with nature-based solutions by building a natural retaining wall with only rocks, aggregates and gabion cages (using no concrete) to store water in the restored upland wetland.

Approaches rooted in protecting and restoring natural ecosystems are key to reducing the risks of future pandemics, while simultaneously fighting climate change, in a sustainable way.

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