Biodykes serve as a Nature-based Solution to protect riverbanks from erosion in a time of increasingly erratic rainfall patterns in the Gindri watershed, Amaltari, Nawalparasi district in Nepal. Photo by Karun Dewan from WWF Nepal. Used with permission.

This post is part of Global Voices’ May 2026 Spotlight series, “Global crisis, local solutions.” This series will offer stories of resistance and successful climate action, insight into how communities in the Global South are fighting back against the crisis, analysis of what this might mean for future generations, and more. You can support this coverage by donating here.

Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. Across the world, this crisis is causing widespread disruption and contributing to violations of basic rights, including the right to live with dignity, both directly and indirectly. As more and more global leaders recognize climate change as one of the greatest threats to human rights, climate justice is emerging as a fundamental human right.

In Nepal, climate change is impacting agriculture, biodiversity, and water and energy resources, and leading to increasingly common and severe hydrometeorological disasters, including floods, landslides, droughts, and other extreme weather events, as well as slow-onset climate change.

Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by Indigenous communities, including political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination, and unemployment. Most of the Indigenous communities that are dependent on natural resources are affected by this environmental catastrophe.

Indigenous peoples are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change. Climate injustice is even more severe for women, Dalits (lower caste individuals who face societal prejudice), Indigenous women, people with disabilities, and Madhesi communities, an ethnic minority in Nepal. They are further susceptible due to preexisting vulnerabilities driven by discrimination based on socially ascribed identities such as caste, ethnicity, and indigeneity, geographic remoteness, and socioeconomic marginalization. These entangled issues continue to widen existing inequalities in Nepal.

The climate crisis is also driving displacement and forcing many poor and vulnerable people, who are termed “climate refugees,” to migrate to urban areas due to floods, heat stress, drought, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and other extreme conditions.

Yet even as the disasters worsen, those most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis have the least say in how resources are allocated. For example, less than one percent of global climate finance reaches Indigenous populations, even though they play a crucial role in protecting natural resources and ecosystems.

A Chepang elder planting a sacred Chiuri tree in Chepang village in Rapti Municipality, Chitwan District. Image by the author. Used with permission.

Cases of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS)

Nature-based solutions (NbS) can be a self-help tool where ecosystem restoration in forests, wetlands, or mangroves can reduce disaster risks such as floods, landslides, and droughts in ways that generate both ecological and human benefits. These can be locally driven and community-based initiatives that further strengthen climate resilience, reduce dependence on imported fertilizers, and promote sustainable rural development.

In practical terms, NbS are increasingly used as context-specific measures to restore degraded ecosystems, stabilize slopes, and protect riverbanks. However, NbS can address climate injustice only if they are rights-based, locally led, and socially inclusive. Nature-based solutions are considered an affordable, inclusive option for managing climate change, disaster risk, and environmental deterioration while supporting biodiversity and local livelihoods.

Indigenous peoples and local communities play a vital role in climate mitigation and adaptation. One of their main roles is ecological stewardship: protecting forests, wetlands, and biodiversity. Many of these solutions already exist in practice; the Indigenous people are the original guardians of the ecosystem, who recognize the value of the forests and natural landscapes.

There are small-scale to medium-scale mitigation efforts carried out as nature-based solutions. For example, bioengineering techniques help mitigate flood impacts and safeguard vital ecosystem services like freshwater flow, soil stability, and habitat connectivity. More broadly, nature-based solutions can regulate water flow, reduce sediment loads, and strengthen ecosystem resilience through measures such as reforestation, wetland restoration, riverbank vegetation, and slope stabilization using bio-engineering techniques.

Shifting cultivation, a traditional, subsistence-based farming system practiced by Indigenous communities, is also an example of an NbS that is contributing to carbon sequestration in forests and therefore plays a role in climate mitigation.

NbS can also strengthen local economies through community forestry, agroforestry, and watershed restoration programs, which promote fisheries. Protecting critical water sources and farmland, restoring floodplains and wetlands can improve groundwater recharge, support fisheries, and provide habitats for wildlife. These processes enhance both ecological and economic resilience, empowering local people socially and economically through active participation in natural resource management.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) can be a new opportunity for green job creation, including roles such as forest guards, nursery workers, eco-guides, and timber processing workers. They can generate a new source of income for community forest groups, strengthen local green economies, and generate employment, especially for women and youth, for example, through compost production and sales.

Biodykes serve as a Nature-based Solution to protect riverbanks from erosion in a time of increasingly erratic rainfall patterns in the Khageri Watershed, Baradabhar corridor of Chitwan district in Nepal. Photo by Karun Dewan from WWF Nepal. Used with permission.

NbS play a crucial role in mitigating flood impacts and safeguarding vital ecosystem services like freshwater flow, soil stability, and habitat connectivity. They take different forms and contribute not only to disaster risk reduction but also to the revival of local traditions, livelihood enhancement, and broader socioeconomic development. For example, Bio-dykes are an environmentally-friendly alternative to normal flood defense structures, where “normal” means huge concrete structures that are expensive to build, damage the environment, and are catastrophic when they fail. In contrast, the bio-dykes help bind soil and prevent erosion, maintaining the river’s original flow and preventing overflow during heavy rainfall. Bio-dykes deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits.

Bangladesh has another strong example of nature-based solutions (NbS). In the face of climate change, the country’s floating gardens offer an innovative solution to the challenges faced by millions of farmers. Similarly, mangrove forests serve as a nature-based solution for coastal flood protection, helping to reduce the impact of rising sea levels.

The example of Sudan also highlights the potential of NbS, particularly through bioengineering, water harvesting, and ecosystem restoration. These approaches have supported climate adaptation measures that contribute to water management and re-greening, which help communities resume farming activities. Integrated water resource management is helping communities restore the land in and beyond low-lying areas and natural water systems. Overall, these approaches aim to safeguard agricultural land, forests, and settlements from increasing risks of floods, landslides, and droughts driven by climate change.

Finally, converting forest waste into compost is another effective NbS that transforms fallen leaves, dry branches, and other organic material from community forests into usable compost. This practice reduces the risk of forest fires and offers a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers by enhancing soil fertility, improving moisture retention, and supporting microbial activity in the soil.