Nature's technology

Deltas are economic and environ-mental hot spots. They are very fertile, strategic sites with rich ecosystems. But deltas are vulnerable to flooding and drought, especially in the face of climate change.
  

Deltas the world need new solutions to help prevent flooding and drought. Natural climate buffers are a cheaper option than hard engineering. Interest in natures technology is growing in many countries.

Investing in biologically diverse ecosystems lowers the risk of large losses to ecosystems and the services
they provide when a drought or flood occurs.

A quiet revolution is going on in the land of Hans Brinker. You may recall the old tale about Brinker, the Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dike and saved his countrymen from a flood. The little lad in his clogs symbolizes the fight against the water in a country where large areas lie below sea level. But these dikes are no longer sacred in todays Netherlands. Dutch dike builders, nature conservationists and government organs are increasingly coming to agree: now the sea level is rising and the rivers are bursting their banks more often because of extreme rainfall, we must allow room for the water. read more »

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Article information

This is an abstract of an article, published in the magazine Deltas in times of climate change.

Author of this article
Michel Verschoor

Links

WWF Greater Mekong

Contacts

Viet Hoang
Freshwater Coordinator
WWF Greater Mekong, Vietnam
viet.hoang{at}wwfgreatermekong.org

Arjan Berkhuysen
WWF Netherlands
a.berkhuysen{at}wwf.nl

Pieter van Eijk
Technical Officer, Wetlands & Livelihoods, Wetlands International Headquarters, The Netherlands
pieter.vaneijk{at}wetlands.org