Local communities in many of the less developed regions of the world are highly depend on nature. In Kenya, for example, the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana people have historically been absolutely dependent on pastoralism, moving from place to place in search of grazing for their livestock. Fishermen from the Kwale, Mombasa and Lamu communities have maintained healthy river and sea fisheries for millennia, living peaceful and harmonious lives as they pursued nature-based livelihoods mainly using traditional and artisanal technologies. People whose livelihoods depend directly on healthy ecosystems—including fishers, pastoralists, foragers, agro-foresters and eco-tourism operators—face a web of interlinked threats.
These interlinked threats include climate change, changes in land use and sea use, a proliferation of alien invasive species, increased pollution, resource over-exploitation and socio-economic and policy pressures, principally from unstable market drivers, insecure land tenure and poor governance regimes. This brief will address climate change as an existential threat to these communities.
The impacts of climate change are quite serious. As the changes intensify, communities around the world are searching for solutions that not only safeguard people but also restore the planet’s natural balance. Nature-based livelihoods—such as smallholder farming, artisanal fishing, forest gathering and pastoralism—depend directly on the health and productivity of ecosystems. Rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme events undermine the predictability of natural resources, and in parts of Africa it has been documented that yields from rainfed agriculture may decline by over 30 percent by 2050, directly threatening food security and income for millions of rural households.
Climate change undermines this foundation by altering predictability, often resulting in novel realities that have upended traditional practices, leaving communities more vulnerable and reducing their ability to sustain incomes and food security. One approach gaining momentum to address this is the application of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) — which incorporates diverse actions that protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural ecosystems to address societal challenges.
NbS harness the power of healthy ecosystems to address societal challenges, from climate change and disaster risk to food security and biodiversity loss. They involve the protection, sustainable management and restoration of natural and modified ecosystems, generating benefits for people and nature simultaneously. Broadly, NbS encompass that promote sustainable use of ecosystems in ways that tackle social, economic and environmental issues while enhancing resilience and livelihoods.
Three ecosystems stand out as powerful protectors: wetlands, mangroves, and forests.
1. Wetlands: Nature’s Flood Control and Water Purifiers
Wetlands act like giant sponges, absorbing excess rainwater during storms and slowly releasing it during dry periods. This natural flood control reduces the risk of damage to homes and infrastructure. Wetlands also filter pollutants, improving water quality for surrounding communities. In Kenya, for example, in the Yala Swamp ecosystem, wetland restoration has helped regulate local water levels while providing
habitat for diverse wildlife. In many parts of the world, wetlands are endowed with a rich array of resources, including lake systems, inland drainage networks, major rivers and deltaic mangrove areas. These wetlands also encompass riparian corridors, coastal zones and even islands or marine waters deeper than six metres. They deliver critical ecological, economic, social and cultural benefits across the country. Without healthy wetlands, river flows would become erratic, wildlife habitats would shrink, and communities would lose vital services like irrigation, fisheries and flood control. The benefits to local communities are beyond measure, and changes in provision of their ecosystem services greatly impacts the economic stability of local populations.
As benefits to nature, wetlands underpin water regulation by storing and slowly releasing runoff, helping maintain perennial river and stream flows. They serve as nurseries and feeding grounds for mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms and fish, supporting both biodiversity and local fisheries. By filtering sediments and pollutants, they improve water quality for downstream users. Mangroves and floodplain wetlands also sequester carbon, mitigating climate change, and buffer coastal and inland communities against storm surges and floods.
The key climatic pressures include alteration of hydrological regimes and increasing vulnerability to extreme events. When this is coupled with encroachment by agricultural expansion and poorly managed grazing, use of degrading fishing gears, inadequate land-use planning and absence of restoration frameworks for already degraded wetlands, limited funding and weak enforcement of existing management guidelines, the resultant loss to biodiversity and livelihoods could be catastrophic. Limited monitoring data further means that it would be difficult to track important changes, hence impossible to identify tipping points for the different keystone and other species.
2. Mangroves: Coastal Shields Against Storm Surges
Mangrove forests, found along tropical coastlines, serve as living barriers against vagaries of nature. Their dense root systems reduce the force of waves and storm surges, protecting coastal villages from erosion and flooding. They also store up to four times more carbon than tropical rainforests, making them a crucial ally in the fight against climate change. Coastal communities rely on them for fisheries, timber and fuelwood, and as natural barriers that protect against storm surges and flooding. Strengthening mangrove community forestry has been shown to increase the resilience of coastal livelihoods by safeguarding these essential resources and services. In Kenya, for example, mangrove restoration projects have helped protect fishing communities while boosting fish populations.
As benefits to nature, mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, supporting local fisheries and food security, provide filtration of sediments and pollutants, improving water quality for downstream users, enhance carbon sequestration at rates three to four times higher than terrestrial forests, locking carbon in both biomass and soils for centuries, stabilize shorelines and reduce coastal erosion through complex root networks. Benefits to humans include supporting small scale fisheries, provide fuelwood and timber, offer aesthetic benefits including ecotourism and birdwatching, and provide material for production of households and handicraft products.
Studies report that in many developing countries, mangroves contribute between USD 33,000–57,000 per hectare each year to national economies, primarily through fisheries and protection of infrastructure.
Climate change exerts profound effects on mangrove ecosystems, altering their distribution, health and capacity to provide critical services. Changes in sea level, temperature regimes, precipitation patterns and storm intensity interact to shape mangrove resilience and vulnerability. The authors of this brief aver that understanding these impacts is key to safeguarding mangrove-dependent communities and maximizing their role in climate mitigation and adaptation, which is impended by siloed data gathering and management realities that inform the scene in many developing nations.
Mangroves rank among the most efficient coastal carbon sinks, with soil and biomass carbon stocks representing 1.6–2.6 % of global ecosystem carbon, despite covering a fraction of land area. By their very nature mangrove’s high carbon sinking rates make them a strategic nature-based solution for climate mitigation, and this has been shown through the development of financially sustainable blue carbon projects which though they remain limited (~10 % viability), they nevertheless can deliver ~30 Mt CO₂ eq yr⁻¹ and can attract investments of approximately USD 3.7 billion annually.
Beyond livelihoods, protecting mangroves yields cascading benefits for biodiversity, carbon storage, and disaster risk reduction. As global mangrove cover has halved over the last 40 years, reversing this trend through integrated approaches presents one of the most cost-effective investments in both people and the planet.
3. Forests: Climate Regulators and Livelihood Providers
Forests regulate rainfall patterns, store vast amounts of carbon, and provide food, medicine, and income for millions of people. Deforestation not only increases greenhouse gas emissions but also makes communities more vulnerable to landslides and droughts. Restoring degraded forests can revive biodiversity and strengthen local economies. In Kenya, for example, the Mau Forest ecosystem is a key water tower for the country — its restoration is critical for sustaining rivers, agriculture, and hydropower.
Forests act as critical climate stabilizers, absorbing carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere and storing it in trees, soil, and plant matter with removals of about 2 billion metric tons of carbon annually. This helps slow the accumulation of greenhouse gases, making forests one of the most effective natural tools for climate mitigation. Further, they provide key biodiversity & ecosystem services, regulating ecosystems, protecting biodiversity, and providing clean water, healthy soils, and livelihoods for 1.6 billion people globally.
Primary threats to forests include deforestation and degradation, principally from cutting or burning forests which releases stored carbon. Since 1850, about 30% of CO₂ emissions have come from deforestation. Land use and land-use changes account for around 25% of global emissions, with half of that from forest loss. It has been widely documented that deforestation does intensify heat waves and disrupt local rainfall patterns.
Climate change is reshaping the delicate relationship between forests and the communities that depend on them for survival. Key aspects indicated by this relationship include unpredictable weather, with shifts in rainfall, temperature, and seasonal patterns that disrupt farming, harvesting, and forest-based income
activities like gathering fuelwood, medicinal plants, or wild foods. Increasingly, there has been a prevalence of natural hazards, with increased floods, droughts, and wildfires which threaten both forest ecosystems and the people who rely on them for shelter, food, and income. As forests degrade, resource scarcity has increased with local communities facing reduced access to clean water, fertile soils and
biodiversity, which are essential for sustainable livelihoods. Energy, for example, is a major indicator of this balance. In countries like Kenya and Nigeria, for example, charcoal remains a vital energy source, but its production is accelerating deforestation and ecosystem collapse. Over 70% of Nigerians rely on biomass for cooking, yet the trade is largely informal and weakly regulated. In Malawi, 94% of households depend on forest wood for cooking, leading to overharvesting of timber and charcoal and further degrading existing forests.
Why Nature-Based Solutions Matter
Unlike hard infrastructure (like seawalls or dams), nature-based solutions are self-sustaining and often grow stronger over time. They address both environmental and human needs — protecting lives, securing livelihoods, and tackling climate change at its root. At LEAD-EHA and Earth Story Africa, the authors are committed to developing action research, knowledge management and collaborations in these issues towards enhancing a sustainable framework for natural resource management and promotion of livelihoods. Further, the authors are actively working towards developing investments that deliver restoration and protection benefits to these vital ecosystems. This includes supporting diverse community-led projects in Kenya and the greater East Africa, integrating NbS into climate policy, and ensuring that local voices guide conservation efforts.
When nature thrives, so do we.
Ms: Farhiya Farah is an Independent Consultant focused on climate action. She is also the CEO and cofounder of Earth Story Africa.
Mr. Sam Mwangi is an environmental scientist and director of LEAD-EHA.
Both orgainsations are based in Nairobi, Kenya and work in the region.