In Nepal and elsewhere, haphazardly built rural roads have destabilised numerous mountain slopes, causing severe erosion. As rainfall has intensified due to climate change, landslides have become more frequent, leading to the loss of lives and the destruction of property and agricultural land. And even if roads survive the monsoon season intact, most require costly and labour-intense clearing efforts, slowing down the movement of people and goods. But a simple nature-based solution has begun to make a difference: planting grasses and plants such as broom grass or bamboo on the slopes has helped stabilise them, securing roads and reducing the risk posed by landslides. The IUCN Global Standard for NbS can be used to assess and scale up such solutions and their benefits. Photo: Emily Goodwin

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NbS Standard: The first-ever global benchmarks for Nature-based Solutions

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