WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael L. Connor signed a memorandum today providing additional guidance and direction to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on incorporating nature-based solutions – a critical tool to confront climate change while promoting community resilience – in the Civil Works program.
“As we celebrate Earth Day, we must continue to innovate to improve the environment and provide natural habitats while still achieving our water resource missions,” Connor said. “Nature-based solutions should be incorporated as much as possible in developing our resilient infrastructure as they can produce significant benefits, including enhancing natural habitats, removing carbon from the atmosphere, making ecosystems more resilient, and lowering climate change risks for people.”
Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore naturally functioning or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges, while simultaneously providing benefits for people and the environment. The memorandum recognizes the progress that the Corps is making in developing and using nature-based solutions in Civil Works projects and provides additional guidance and direction to continue this trend to incorporate them where appropriate.
As recognized in the memorandum, data gaps and challenges in implementing nature-based solutions remain, and the Corps is encouraged to pursue further research and analysis to address them. The intent of the memorandum is to expand the use of nature-based solutions by identifying challenges and possible solutions for implementing NBS. The memorandum applies to all Civil Works programs and missions except the Regulatory Program. A copy of the memorandum can be found here.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works establishes policy direction and provides supervision of the Department of the Army functions relating to all aspects of the Civil Works Program of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. For more information, please contact Lauren Leuck at lauren.d.leuck.civ@army.mil or (703) 839-0383.
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