Investments of 15 to 25 million euros in ecological restoration programs could have represented a potential damage reduction of hundreds of millions of euros from this year’s storms.
The estimate is from NBI-Natural Business Intelligence, a consultancy specialized in valuing natural capital, which explains the importance of investing in nature and presents values for “how much it costs” to ignore it.
Cross-referencing information on the damage from the January and February “storm train” with economic estimates of ecological restoration measures and natural flood risk management, the NBI says the storms will have caused damage of between 5,000 and 6,000 million euros.
Of this amount, 40 to 55% will be associated with hydrological phenomena, such as floods, which corresponds to losses of 2,200 to 3,300 million euros.
In what it considers “a conservative scenario”, the NBI estimates that around 15% of the damage could be mitigated with nature-based solutions, representing a loss reduction of between 330 and 495 million euros. And this could be achieved with ecological restoration programs.
Ecological restoration in priority river basins could require investments of between 15 and 25 million euros, which would be supported by European funds, notes the company, which points to the gradual loss of natural flood plains and the fragility of infrastructure and natural coastal protection systems in the face of cyclonic winds.
In other words, he says, the country has been losing its natural capacity to absorb extreme events.
Nuno Gaspar de Oliveira, director of NBI, was in Marinha Grande when Storm Kristin hit, the most devastating.
Speaking to Lusa, he says that with the saturated land and the speed of the winds there would always be damage. But they could be smaller.
Areas with pockets of native vegetation, such as oaks and areas of bush and others, recorded 30 to 40% less damage than areas with only pine or eucalyptus trees, explains the specialist.
He regrets that storm damage is now being calculated to rebuild later “using the same logic”, when it is public that extreme events will be more frequent and landscapes must be more resilient.
“It would be great if we could learn something” from what happened, he says.
And he adds: “Every investment we try to make in nature immediately appears in the red”, as a cost with no return.
“Nature is in the dead spot of the economy”, he states, warning that investing in nature is different from spending on nature.
There are municipalities in the interior with preservation work in which “you only see the expense”, but they are “producing important things, such as reducing the severity of fires, maintaining water in the aquifers”, he explains.
According to Nuno Gaspar de Oliveira, nature helps protect against fires and storms, helps with agricultural productivity and tourism.
“And we cannot look at this just as a cost”, the benefit cannot always come to zero, he warns.
In the president’s words, it is necessary to create economic models that make it possible to invest in territories, and show that investing is different from spending.
When you invest in a hospital you know what the return will be, but “you cannot not know what the return is when you invest in a waterfront or a flood bed”.
And it’s the same with fires. Nuno Gaspar de Oliveira anticipates that there will be talk about the need for fire engines and planes, but if someone says that 80 million euros are needed to create corridors to reduce the risk of fire with other vegetation models, it seems like “just spending”.
Later this week, the NBI should launch a freely accessible application that allows anyone in the country to know which species of trees and shrubs will be more resistant and best adapted to each location.
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