Coastal ecosystems include areas affected by the tide (intertidal zone) as well as those further out on the continental shelf. They also include adjacent land areas. The Nordic coastal region includes the Northeast Atlantic coasts of Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland along with the Baltic Sea coasts of Denmark, Sweden, Åland and Finland. Key coastal habitats here include soft bottom habitats, blue mussel beds, seagrass meadows, kelp forests and seaweeds.
Well-functioning coastal ecosystems provide a range of benefits to humans. They include:
Coastal ecosystem before NbS have been implemented
Coastal ecosystem after NbS have been implemented
Eelgrass meadow restoration: the restoration of eelgrass meadows
Blue forest cultivation: the active cultivation of kelp forest
Sea urchin removal: sea urchin removal for passive kelp forest restoration
Soft and hard bottom marine gardens: constructing underwater landscapes and terrain to allow for the restoration of diverse and robust marine habitats and communities
Are you unsure how to choose an NbS for a coastal ecosystem? See our general guidance on Nature-based solutions!
You may also be interested in the S-ITUATION project's factsheet on coastal and marine ecosystems, which describes types of NbS that are typically used to solve various problems in specific land-use contexts.
These pages have been written by Sigrid Engen, Eli Rinde and Evert Mul.