Nature-based solutions for LIFE
All over Europe, LIFE projects use nature-based solutions (NbS) to tackle some of the worst impacts of climate change. NbS are highly effective for reducing risks from floods, storms, sea level rises, droughts and wildfires, acting as natural barriers and shock-absorbers. What all NbS have in common, however, is that they work with nature, rather than against it.
A new brochure from the EU LIFE Programme, launched today 24 March at the European Climate Pact annual celebration ‘Together in Action 2026’ highlights some of the many LIFE projects deploying NbS. Nature-based Solutions: How LIFE works with nature for people features success stories and case studies from all over the EU.
In Belgium, for example, LIFE+SCALLUVIA and LIFE SPARC created 400 ha of natural flood plains to protect homes and businesses along the River Scheld. They also revived a valuable Natura 2000 site and boosted the local leisure and tourism economy.
Peatlands absorb and store vast quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs), yet only 10% of EU peatlands are in good ecological condition. LIFE Peat Restore and LIFE MULTI PEAT restored degraded peatlands so they could act as carbon sinks once more. LIFE Peat Restore revived 5 300 ha of peatlands at 10 sites in Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, while LIFE MULTI PEAT used its experience rewetting 689 ha across Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland to help develop EU peatlands policy.
Dunes, estuaries and seagrass meadows provide natural protection against coastal erosion, sea level rise and flooding. In southern Spain, Life Posidonia Andalucia focused on conserving seagrass meadows which both store blue carbon and protect against storm waves; LIFECOASTadapt piloted a variety of NbS along 500 km of sandy coast in southern Sweden; Dutch dune revival expanded and restored nearly 190 ha of sand dunes in 3 coastal Natura 2000 sites in the Netherlands; LIFE Baie de l’Aiguillon in northern France revived 1 100 ha of salt marshes and 3 700 ha of mudflats to act as flood defences; and LIFE adapto+ tested a standardised method for coastal NbS across 15 pilot sites on France’s Atlantic coast.
Climate-smart forestry is increasingly important for protecting European forests from droughts, diseases, pests and wildfires. NbS can be used to manage forests sustainably – an approach known as ‘closer to nature’ forestry (CNF). Portugal’s LIFE LANDSCAPE FIRE, a finalist in the LIFE Awards 2025, for example, tested controlled burning and livestock grazing to prevent forest fires, while in Denmark, LIFE4Forest pioneered the simplified use of CNF in 220 forest locations covering 4 850 ha.
Agroecology and agroforestry are powerful NbS which combine sustainable farming with nature conservation. In Belgium and the Netherlands, Farm LIFE demonstrated that integrating trees, shrubs, crops and animals resulted in richer biodiversity, improved soil health, better drought management and higher farm revenues. Meanwhile in Portugal’s Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, LIFE ResLand worked with landowners to introduce low-cost silvo-pastoralism which naturally controls the amount of flammable vegetation.
LIFE strategic projects are equally important for NbS, which need coordination and support to realise their full potential across the whole of the EU. One such is France’s LIFE IP ARTISAN, which provided a toolkit to mainstream NbS and strengthen climate resilience through national coordination and policy integration.
Despite requiring long-term commitment and patience, NbS offer significant environmental, economic and social returns – as evidenced by numerous LIFE projects over the past three decades. Other successful LIFE projects highlighted in Nature-based Solutions: How LIFE works with nature for people include LIFE WETLANDS4CLIMATE, LIFE PeatCarbon, LIFE IP PAF-WILD ATLANTIC NATURE, Amsterdam Dune, LIFE ADAPT-ALEPPO, LIFE RedBosques Clima, LIFE CLIMATE FOREST, LIFE CLIMARK, LIFE AgroForAdapt, LIFE SILFORE and LIFE-AFaktive.
Together, these and hundreds of other LIFE projects play a key role in supporting the EU Directives on Birds, Habitats and Marine Strategy Framework; the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy; the Nature Restoration Regulation; the Invasive Alien Species Regulation; the new integrated framework for European climate resilience and risk management; the EU Circular Economy Act; and the European Climate Law.