Potential Benefits of NBS

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Water Quantity

Water Quality

Carbon

Biodiversity& Environment

Socio-economics

NBS Concepts

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Habitats

Interventions

Activities

Processes

Benefits

Calculation Methods

NBS Explorer: Detailed Tool Guidance

Before using the NBS Benefits Explorer tool, the following should be taken into account:

• The tool provides a high-level overview of the types of NBS activities that can be undertaken and the resulting benefits. The local context and needs of the project should inform how activities are undertaken and assessed.
• Identification and understanding of societal and environmental challenges should be done before planning interventions. Challenges that inform interventions/activities and potential trade-offs (e.g., negative impacts) of activities have not been included in the current tool and may be explored in the future.
• The tool focuses on active, direct activities that have direct linkages to processes and benefits. For example, when a specific habitat is selected, only activities that occur within the habitat or directly impact the habitat are included. Activities that occur outside of a habitat in a different habitat are not included.
• While discrete habitats, interventions, activities, processes, and benefits are defined for this exercise, in real-life applications there are instances where there is overlap (e.g., a river running through a forest). Specifically, the four intervention types are not mutually exclusive. Some interventions may require the inclusion of other intervention activities (e.g., protection of certain habitat types may require some degree of restoration and/or management activities to ensure benefits are realized). Where there is overlap, assessing a combined intervention category (e.g., management and protection) may be preferred. Additionally, some activities may fall within one intervention type, whereas others may be included in multiple.

To use the tool:

1. Once the tool is open, make selections in the left pane. These include the general tool options, habitat of interest, intervention of interest, and benefit themes. Brief guidance on these options is described below.
   1. List View: The default view, which provides a simple format to visualize the relevant activities, processes, and benefits as stacked boxes.
   2. Network View: A more complicated view, which allows visualization of the connections between activities, processes, and benefits. Lines connecting nodes show the linkages between them.
   3. Pathway: The tool can either allow the user to select activities, with connected processes and benefits being displayed (Activities -> Benefits), or select benefits, with connected processes and activities being displayed (Benefits -> Activities).
   4. Show/Hide Processes: Relevant processes can be included in the results or hidden to focus more on activities and benefits.
   5. Habitats: Only one habitat can be assessed at a time.
   6. Interventions: Interventions are actions involving management, restoration or protection of biodiversity, ecosystems, or ecosystem services, or involving the creation or management of artificial ecosystems. If multiple interventions are selected, results will show any linkage that is relevant for at least one of the interventions selected.
   7. Themes: Benefits are classified into five general theme areas, with each benefit classified into only one theme. The user can select which theme areas to display results for.
2. When selections in the left pane are complete, click “Update Explorer” button to display results. Whenever a change is made to the selections in the left pane, “Update Explorer” needs to be re-clicked for results to update.
3. Explore specific results by selecting activities or benefits of interest:
   1. Note: How you utilize the results of the tool will differ depending on your level of knowledge and purpose for using the tool.
   2. While all possible activities, processes, and benefits will be visible at all times, those that do not fit the selected criteria will be greyed out. Everything will be greyed out when results are first displayed, with relevant activities, processes, and benefits becoming active as selections are made in the display. Note: Benefits will be active if they are connected to an active process or another benefit.
   3. If the “Activities -> Benefits” pathway is selected, begin by selecting an activity with your cursor. All processes and benefits that are connected to that activity will become active, while those that are not linked will stay greyed out. Multiple activities can be selected and an activity can be un-selected by clicking it again.
   4. If the “Benefits -> Activities” pathway is selected, begin by selecting a benefit with your cursor. All processes and activities that are connected to that benefit will become active, while those that are not linked will stay greyed out. Multiple benefits can be selected and a benefit can be un-selected by clicking it again.
   5. If using the network view, lines will show the connections between activities, processes, and benefits.
4. View descriptions for more details and quantification methods:
   1. To view detailed descriptions, hover the cursor over a box or node for at least 2 seconds. A dialog box will appear with details, which may include the full name and code, theme, and description/definition. Additionally, selecting a process or benefit (while in “Activities -> Benefits” pathway) or a process or activity (while in “Benefits -> Activities” pathway) will cause the description dialog box to appear.
   2. A subset of benefits currently have an identified primary quantification pathway (based on Section 3 of the Benefit Accounting of Nature-Based Solutions for Watersheds Guide). The description for these benefits will include a table showing relevant indicators and methods for quantification. >Note: While these indicators and methods provide a good starting point for quantifying the benefits of NBS, the list is not comprehensive and has the potential to be expanded upon in the future. Just because a benefit does not currently have a relevant indicator and method does not mean that it is not possible to quantify the benefit.
   3. Click outside of the dialog box to go back to the main display screen.
5. Export Results:
   1. Current results can be exported into an Excel sheet, which can be saved and printed, using the “Export View” button above the display.
6. Additional tips:
   1. Additional descriptions and tips can be viewed by selecting the information icons within the homepage and tool.
   2. If boxes and nodes appear too large or small (e.g., if all do not fit within your screen), the resolution of the elements (nodes, text, etc.) can be increased or decreased using the “Zoom Level” slider above the display.
   3. Circular nodes can be moved within the Network View to help view the results, but may “drift” naturally to find the best fit.
   4. The benefit boxes and nodes are colored based on the relevant thematic area (water quantity, water quality, carbon, biodiversity & environment, and socio-economics).