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Let's make the case for #NaturalInfrastructure - my tree-lobbyist hat firmly on. THREAD
Restoration work is labour intensive & low on consenting & qualifications requirements. Ideal for quick transitional employment, even more so than roadworks & rail & renewable energy...
Restoration work is labour intensive & low on consenting & qualifications requirements. Ideal for quick transitional employment, even more so than roadworks & rail & renewable energy...
"Green infrastructure" often does what "grey infrastructure" does - but potentially cheaper & with added co-benefits for biodiversity, cultural value, air & soil quality, yadda yadda yadda.
See table from my US friends @BlueForestConsv: https://www.forestresiliencebond.com/
See table from my US friends @BlueForestConsv: https://www.forestresiliencebond.com/
Classic case is New York City which, facing costly water treatment plants, instead invested in forest restoration in the Catskills and got desired outcomes via lower expenditure. Similarly, in Aotearoa NZ, catchment restoration could improve water quality. https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/10/16/natural-infrastructure-its-not-an-oxymoron/
Advantage of #NaturalInfrastructure is there's work to do in town & country. When service sector most vulnerable to immediate shock, esp hospo & tourism, urban job opps are critical. As AKL strategy shows, there's already a need for urban kaitiakitanga... https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/topic-based-plans-strategies/environmental-plans-strategies/Pages/urban-ngahere-forest-strategy.aspx
Also vital in regions as part of integrated #LandscapeApproach. And given that Crown was subsidising landowners to remove forest/bush up to the 1980s, there's a fair case for public investment to remedy that mistake & share burden of land-use change. https://thepolicyobservatory.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/178508/The-Interwoven-World-by-David-Hall.pdf
In some ways, "infrastructure" is quite an instrumentalist metaphor. But it tunes peoples' minds to nature's necessary functions, large public good aspect, and investment mindset. Hence my past research into forest funding/financing. https://www.mohio.co/forestfinance
So, yup, all up, I'm a fan of the "nature-based fund" idea. But anyone who follows this account probably could've guessed that... https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12327532
