Engaging coastal community members about natural and nature-based solutions to assess their ecosystem function

Hazards in coastal ecosystems, such as flooding and land loss, demand natural and nature-based solutions from local communities due to the protective and non-protective services they provide when compared with traditionally engineered approaches. In this context, natural solutions are those that consider conserving existing habitats whereas nature-based solutions are those created by humans. These solutions support important coastal ecosystem functions, such as nutrient uptake, fisheries habitat, soil carbon storage, and surge attenuation. Our main research questions were: (1) Based on community engagement, what are the possible natural and nature-based solutions to address coastal hazards in Breton Sound Estuary, Louisiana? and (2) How do these community co-designed nature-based solutions support various ecosystem functions?