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This report focuses on initiatives that enhance the biodiversity and ecology of the natural environment while providing social, economic and other wellbeing enhancements for people and communities. Through domestic and international examples, the paper highlights the many opportunities for increasing investment in nature-based infrastructure such as wetlands, forests, coastal environments and urban green spaces, as well as practices such as cultural burning, to mitigate the risks of floods, bushfires, sea level rise and other natural hazards.

The paper, developed following a roundtable with more than 50 senior experts from government, research and industry in September, outlines four actionable ideas:

• Recognize the disaster risk reduction benefits of nature positive investments in planning and decision-making.
• Enhance investment guidelines to encourage and support nature-based approaches to disaster risk reduction.
• Enable public-private partnerships to drive the implementation of nature-based solutions.
• Undertake pilot studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of nature-based solutions and build confidence in their application.