Dr. Bernal Herrera, IUCN CEM vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, gave the keynote presentation, providing a general overview on the IUCN framework for NbS. During the session, case studies about NbS implemented in Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico and Peru were presented. A discussion about the NbS concept and it´s use in protected areas management and decision making processes took place between the public and the speakers.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) were defined by the IUCN “as actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”. The major societal challenges that NbS are designed to address include food security, climate change, water security, human health, disaster risk, and social and economic development. In the past few years, IUCN and the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) have developed the definitional framework for NbS, considering it as an umbrella approach for a number of ecosystem-based concepts (e.g. ecological restoration, ecosystem-based mitigation, green infrastructure, forest landscape restoration). A series of 8 principles were developed and approved during the 2016 Hawaii World Conservation Congress (Resolution 69). The IUCN and CEM published a book on “Nature-based Solutions to address global societal challenges”, in which the NbS framework is explained in detail with examples for NbS interventions in different geographic contexts.