EIP-AGRI Focus Group Nature-based Solutions for water management under climate change

The EIP-AGRI Focus Group (FG) was tasked with answering the question: How could Nature-based Solutions (NBS) have an impact on water management and water availability at farm level and contribute to sustainable farming under climate change? To begin with, two actions were carried out in parallel:

1) compiling case studies implementing NBS based on direct contacts of the FG members and 2) reviewing definitions of NBS formulated in other contexts. The parallel actions converged in a collection of NBS specific for agricultural water management.

The NBAS identified were grouped into: a) practices aiming to increase water storage in the soil root zone b) interventions to protect watercourses and boundaries (vegetative buffers and barriers) c) green infrastructures to retain, regulate and store water in the farm or agricultural watershed.