Improving the Evidence-Based Design of Nature-based Solutions by Understanding the Trade-Offs and Synergies of Ecosystem Services in a Tropical Develo

Contributing to the body of evidence on trade-offs and synergies in tropical developing countries will enable well-designed NbS in globally significant ecosystems to reduce risks and deliver a greater breadth and depth of positive outcomes for respective beneficiaries. This research aims to build on the growing evidence base for trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services in tropical developing countries to uncover context-specific insights. This is particularly important for NbS, and more specifically NCS (a subset of NbS), as investments in NCS are scaling from organisations who have made net-zero and nature-positive commitments and therefore plan to use NCS carbon credits to (i) neutralise their residual emissions or (ii) contribute to their 'beyond value chain mitigation' efforts.

This research aims to make the following contributions:
1. Develop a practical and standardised approach for project proponents to consider trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services in NCS projects, in alignment with the high-integrity requirements of the IUCN Global Standard for NbS.
2. Demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of using an interdisciplinary mixed methods approach to synthesise insights across biophysical and socio-economic value domains.
3. Contribute to the evidence base for the context-specific analysis of ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in tropical developing countries.