Nature-Based Solutions

Aquaculture and Nature-based Solutions

The present report ‘Aquaculture and Nature-based Solutions Identifying synergies between sustainable development of coastal communities, aquaculture, and marine and coastal conservation’ examines the emerging concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and the IUCN Global Standard (IUCN, 2020a) when applied to social-ecological systems that include aquaculture production. Aquaculture production has very significantly increased in tonnage and value over the last decades. It is seen as a potential solution to replace the declining wild fishery stocks, therefore addressing Sustainable Development Goal – SDG 2, food safety, and many other SDGs (FAO, 2018; Hambrey, 2017; FAO, 2020; Costello et al., 2020; Stentiford et al., 2020). However, this impressive growth in worldwide aquaculture production has also been associated with critical environmental and social drawbacks (Aubin et al., 2019; Edwards, 2015; Weitzman et al., 2019), highlighting the need for new approaches reconciling aquaculture with conservation and societal benefits (Le Gouvello et al., 2017). This publication is a first attempt to examine aquaculture systems within the recent framework of the IUCN Global Standard (IUCN, 2020a). It is concluded that the concept of NbS may provide new opportunities to implement existing concepts for aquaculture, such as Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture – EAA, and contribute to clarifying some critical issues in aquaculture.