Local and regional governments advancing nature-positive strategies

Local and regional governments around the world are implementing nature-positive strategies to halt and reverse the loss of nature. According to the Nature Positive Initiative, “nature-positive” refers to actively restoring nature to reverse natural loss by 2030 and achieve full recovery by 2050. 

This article presents five cases from around the world to demonstrate how the collaborative efforts of local and regional governments are making a nature-positive future a reality.

Conexão Mata Atlântica project in Brazil

The Conexão Mata Atlântica project is a joint initiative by the states of Rio de Janeiro,  São Paulo, and Minas Gerais, along with the Federal Government of Brazil through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. 

The project aims to transform landscapes and livelihoods in Brazil’s Paraíba do Sul River Basin by recovering and protecting climate and biodiversity services in the Southeastern Corridor of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

The goals of the project are to:

• Increase carbon stocks.

• Enhance ecosystem resilience.

• Promote habitat conservation through the reconnection of forest fragments.

• Strengthen the institutional capacity of public and private organisations.

The project recognizes rural producers as strategic partners in nature-positive actions. Rural producers who adopt practices that facilitate the conservation of native forests, the recovery of degraded areas, and the implementation of sustainable production methods benefit through the Payments of Environmental Services (PES), along with sustainable value chains, certification, and training.

Payments of Environmental Services (PES) is an economic instrument that, based on the “protector–receiver” principle, rewards those who provide environmental services. The project pays these rural producers for implementing environmental recovery and conservation practices, which in turn ensures the benefits of environmental services, such as biodiversity recovery and the provision of sufficient, high-quality water.

The project aims to complete over 2,280 PES contracts in Rio de Janeiro and Såo Paulo through the recognition of approximately 25,000 hectares of areas managed with methods that promote native forest conservation, ecological restoration, and productivity conservation.

• The state of São Paulo offered technical assistance to more than 1,300 small rural producers and benefited 180 producers by supporting sustainable value chains.

• The state of Minas Gerais trained more than 3,000 rural producers in best practices and recovered 1,000 hectares of degraded land. 

• The state of Rio de Janeiro conducted two public selection processes for PES, where 285 contracts are underway, covering 2,807 hectares of land.

The project is funded by a R$100 million grant from the Global Environmental Facility, and receives R$175.3 million in counterpart funding from the three participating states. R$55 million is used on PES, R$17 million on coordination, monitoring, and evaluation by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and the rest on compensatory measures for forest restoration, capacity building, and sustainability improvement. 

As a result, the project recognized and rewarded 448 rural producers for conserving 5,500 hectares of Atlantic Forest.

Source: the Conexão Mata Atlântica project

Nature recovery strategy in Durban, South Africa

The city of Durban in South Africa has developed a comprehensive set of nature-positive strategies.

Operating under the eThekwini Municipality, the city has a surface area of 2,580 square kilometers, with over 4,000 kilometers of rivers and nearly 100 kilometers of coastline. It is located within the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot — one of the only 26 biodiversity hotspots. 2,267 plant species, 82 terrestrial mammal species, and 526 species of birds inhabit the city, including 25 endemic vertebrates. Moreover, it contains three of the country’s nine terrestrial biomes. It is evident that Durban plays a key role in biodiversity conversion.

Durban adopted city-level strategies, including the “Climate Change Strategy” in 2022, the “Climate Action Plan” in 2019, and the “Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan”. These strategies outlined the city’s determination to reduce carbon emissions, avoid biodiversity loss, and preserve ecosystem conditions and status while encouraging economic development. A decentralized approach is implemented, where municipal departments share the responsibility to implement projects on climate change.

There are three key initiatives

• Durban Metropolitan Open Space System D’MOSS (Dengue Forecasting Model Satellite-based System)

The city overlays zoning maps to show where development is subject to environmental authorization. Currently, 7% of the D’MOSS is under a land protection scheme.

• Transformative Riverine Management Programme TRMP

The initiative aims to protect the riverine ecosystems by clearing waste and plastic across a 500 km municipal-owned riverine corridor. It has reduced private car journeys by 15% and diverted 10% of waste from landfill.

• Giba Gorde special rating area

The city established the Gorge as a special rating area, which is managed as a conservation site despite its fragmented private ownership.

Extensive data and robust analytical programs and capabilities support decision-making, creating an enabling environment for nature-positive strategies. Key challenges remain in governance, policy regulations, financial environments, a lack of standardized processes, and limited collaboration. There are also competing priorities for the city that challenge the nature agenda.

Source: World Economic Forum

Second Rwanda Urban Development Project in Kigali, Rwanda

The city of Kigali, Rwanda, experienced natural habitat loss due to rapid urbanization, with wetland areas declining from 100 square kilometers in 2013 to 72 in 2019. The Second Rwanda Urban Development Project (RUDP II) aims to restore wetlands as infrastructure, public commons, and economic platforms. 

RUDP II is jointly implemented by the World Bank, Global Environment Facility, Nordic Development Fund, Climate Investment Funds, Rwanda Green Fund, Germany’s KfW, Government of Denmark, and is empowered by nature capital data and analysis from the Global Program on Sustainability.

RUDPII aims to restore 500 hectares of urban wetlands—the largest citywide urban wetland rehabilitation in Africa.

• The wetlands will serve as spaces for tourism, education, and recreation while the restoration improves water quality and biodiversity.

• It will enhance the usability of adjacent land and bolster the city’s frontline defense against floods.

• The wetland rehabilitation will also be integrated with targeted green-grey works, including flood hotspots and settlement identification using LiDAR mapping and citywide tools such as the stormwater master plan and greenhouse gas accounting framework. 

Guided by Kigali’s Long-Term Wetland Master Plan, the development of five wetland ecosystem parks will create an integrated and interconnected system. Public access will be enabled through linked edge pathways, learning hubs, and eco-sensitive visitor facilities, while protected core “pause zones” will safeguard habitats. Each park is designed with a distinct focus, reflecting its ecological characteristics and urban context.

RUDP II’s benefits include:

• Directly benefits approximately  220,500 (1/6 of Kigali’s population) living in flood-prone neighborhoods through improved flood management.

• Avoids flood-related damages estimated between between USD 45–90 million. 

• Generates positive spillover effects across across transport, downstream agriculture, and urban services.

• Creates approximately 7,500 jobs, with nearly half of these opportunities targeted towards women.

• Links recreation, research, and nature-based tourism to deliver broader community benefits.Supports the growth of small and medium enterprises (SME) targeting assistance for 50 SMEs annually by 2031 and scaling up to 100 SMEs by 2036.

Source: World Bank

Water-Sensitive City Strategy in Cape Town, South Africa

The City of Cape Town, South Africa, builds a strong investment case for nature-based infrastructure to restore its rivers and wetlands. Urban growth, pollution, and climate stress have closed the waterways in Cape Town, weakening their natural defense against floods.

The city developed a Water Strategy to become a “water-sensitive city” by 2040. Central to this strategy is the Green Infrastructure Programme and the Liveable Urban Waterways Programme, which rehabilitate degraded rivers and wetlands using water-sensitive design and Nature-based Infrastructure (NbI).

In early 2024, the Liveable Urban Waterways Programme faced a major setback when funding for four of its five projects was deferred due to budget constraints. The projects were hence pushed back to 2033. Following the funding cuts, various efforts were made to restore the budget.

One of the most significant is the integrated cost-benefit analysis (CBA) conducted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the NBI Global Resource Center, with support from the C40 Cities Finance Facility.

• The analysis presents a business case for the restoration project and strong economic evidence supporting the investment.

• The analysis adapts IISD’s Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) approach, which incorporates social and environmental benefits alongside traditional economic metrics.

• It links ecosystem services to budget impacts, showing how rehabilitating waterways could lower canal repair costs, reduce flood damage, and deliver social and environmental benefits such as job creation and biodiversity gains. 

• The analysis found that in one catchment, every rand invested would generate almost two rand in benefits, with net gains of up to ZAR 133 million (USD 7.6 million) by 2050.

• In another catchment, net benefits range between ZAR 68 million and ZAR 125 million (USD 3.9–7.1 million).

• The projects were projected to save up to ZAR 55 million (USD 3.1 million) in dredging and canal refurbishment costs, safeguard tourism and property revenues, and create about 60 local jobs annually.

In July 2025, the City of Cape Town approved ZAR 99 million (USD 5.6 million) for the Liveable Urban Waterways Program over the next three years and earmarked an additional ZAR 91 million for the deferred projects. Planned measures include wetland creation, canal naturalization, and 15 community co-design workshops with over 800 participants to enhance the effort. 

The integrated CBA strengthens the case for waterway rehabilitation as both an environmental and economic investment. By quantifying avoided costs, direct benefits, and co-benefits, the city provides the evidence needed to secure investment.

Source: World Bank

Coordinated nature rehabilitation in Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei region, China

Chinese cities are rapidly expanding economically and spatially, putting pressure on biodiversity. Constraints of the transition towards nature-positive cities include fragmented standards, uneven implementation, and limited system-level coordination. 

The Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei region (Jing-Jin-Ji region) is a national-level urban agglomeration where the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, the Tianjing Municipal People’s Government, and the People’s Government of Hebei Province synergize regional development, economic growth, and biodiversity conservation. With better coordination, the region supports biodiversity-sensitive urban planning. 

A notable initiative is the Jing-Jin-Ji Biodiversity Conservation Collaboration Innovation Center. Established in 2023, the center aims to break down barriers and foster synergies among institutions across the three regions. It facilitates the exchange of expertise and resources to address pressing biodiversity challenges. Joint research endeavors focus on biodiversity monitoring, ecological health assessment, and habitat restoration initiatives.

An exemplary initiative by the Jing-Jin-Ji Biodiversity Conservation Collaboration Innovation Center is the restoration of the Baiyandian wetland, which is located within the region’s development nexus, the Xiong’an New Development Area.

• The wetland is a crucial stopover point for migratory birds traversing the East Asia-Australia migration route.

• Through the center’s field surveys documenting bird species and population dynamics, as well as comprehensive reports and atlases, , the wetland has recorded an increase of 86 additional wild bird species since the establishment of the Xiong’an New Development Area.

Source: the government of Xiong’an

Lessons learnt

Drawing insights from the five cases in the article, the following lessons are highlighted.

• Nature-positive strategies often require cross-border effort and localized actions. As illustrated by the Conexão Mata Atlântica project in Brazil and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, natural habitats are rarely constrained by administrative boundaries, making collaboration critical. Each municipality can, however, determine its local goals and actions based on its unique context, like what Brazilian states have done.

• Linking nature-positivity to community, economic, and social benefits can facilitate project implementation. The cases in Brazil, Kigali, and Cape Town demonstrate that co-benefits can secure crucial support and investment. 

• Data collection and geospatial mapping can lay a strong foundation for nature-positive strategies. In Durban and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, clear documentation and visualization of biodiversity data facilitate environmentally sensitive decision-making.