The protection of coastal lagoons as a nature-based solution to mitigate coastal floods

Abstract

Transitional systems like coastal lagoons are essential in mitigating the consequences of coastal flooding, a hazard evermore present under a climate change context. Hard grey infrastructure has been used to prevent coastal flooding and erosion, replacing natural coastal habitats. Hence, concerns regarding sustainability and resilience favoured a transition towards Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). Despite the various examples of NBS for coastal flood mitigation existing worldwide, technical, political, and socio-economic challenges still hinder their applicability. We argue that most NBS, spatially restrictive and focusing on single species and habitats, overlook the complex nature of coastal lagoons, impairing the effectiveness of actions. We claim that identifying coastal lagoons as ecologically significant areas in conservation plans and enforcing low human intervention NBS (e.g., protected areas) must be the first step to preserving their coastal protection capacity and ensuring the conditions needed for the successful implementation of local and more specific actions (e.g., habitat restoration).