New Study Highlights Benefits of Nature-Based Solutions in DEEP Funding Programs, Further Opportunities

Program Evaluation issued by DEEP on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Highlights How State Programs Integrate Practices Utilizing Nature to Combat Climate Change, Slow Biodiversity Loss, and Restore Ecosystem Resilience

(HARTFORD) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) today released DEEP’s NBS Initiative Program Evaluation, required by Section 12 of Public Act 25-125. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are important tools available to DEEP and the many state, federal, tribal, municipal, private, non-profit, and other partners necessary to address climate, biodiversity, and resilience challenges at meaningful scales.

This evaluation finds that 10 different NBS best practices are already well-integrated into several DEEP programs, including the DEEP Climate Resilience Fund, the Open Space and Watershed Acquisition and Urban Green and Community Gardens programs, the Clean Water Fund, the Long Island Sound Study, and the Urban and Community Forestry programs, amongst others at DEEP. Collectively these programs are investing tens of millions of state and federal dollars every year into projects that advance NBS. The study also identifies opportunities for future NBS applications.

NBS typically involve three elements: (1) a challenge or set of challenges that natural systems can help to solve (e.g., the lack of shade, and/or wildlife habitat, and/or flood retention); (2) a nature-based activity that provides a “nature-based solution” (e.g., the planting of trees in key areas); and (3) the legal, policy, financial, and other pre-conditions necessary for NBS implementation to be successful (e.g., supportive town ordinances and/or sustained funding).

“Nature-based solutions are like the threads stitching together so many of our efforts at DEEP,” said DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. “DEEP’s program evaluation shows both how NBS are integrated into key funding programs, and how NBS is critical to another 30 plans, policies, and guidance documents that are fundamental to how we do business every day. Amongst many connections across the Department, our NBS work is directly linked to the pathways to meet the state’s net zero by 2050 target that were announced in the spring.”

DEEP’s NBS Initiative Program Evaluation has been released onto the nature-based solutions webpage. The evaluation does the following:

Analyzes 10 different NBS best practices with local examples of each,
Displays showing how NBS best practices are integrated into:
- 47 state programs administered by six (6) state agencies (DEEP and the departments of Agriculture, Public Health, and Transportation, as well as the Office of Policy and Management and the CT Green Bank);
- 30 plans, policies, and guidance documents that drive DEEP’s work, and
- A web-based NBS dashboard allowing various dynamic searches and filtering of state agency NBS programs in the program evaluation; and
Highlights opportunities for future investment that integrate and advance NBS to help address the massive challenges of climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity loss, and restoring resilience in Connecticut.

Several DEEP partners expressed strong support for NBS being a priority for Connecticut beyond the efforts of the state agencies covered in the NBS Program Evaluation:

“Public Act 25-125 and the NBS evaluation mark an important step forward in Connecticut's commitment to integrating nature-based solutions across all facets of government. Now is the time to build on that momentum, including through increased and sustained investment in the conservation of forests, trees, and other natural and working lands that absorb and store millions of tons of carbon pollution each year while protecting biodiversity, strengthening our economy, and making Connecticut more resilient.” – Amy Blaymore Paterson, Executive Director, CT Land Conservation Council

“Increasing the adoption of agricultural practices for soil health, like cover cropping, reduced tillage, and substituting compost or manure for synthetic nitrogen, have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in CT by over 13,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent per year, while making farms more resilient to both drought and excessive rain (according to the 2020 GC3 Report by the Agriculture and Soils Working Group). Implementing this nature-based solution through increased planning for soil health, technical assistance, and funding would provide multiple benefits for Connecticut farms and our environment.” – Dr. Kimberly Stoner, Director of Advocacy, Northeast Organic Farming Association of CT (CT NOFA)

“Connecticut’s Nature-Based Solution’s (NBS) Initiative Program Evaluation creates a transparent survey of existing NBS programs and best practices. This program evaluation will facilitate the expansion of cost-effective biodiversity and climate benefits that NBS can provide. For example, healthy forests actively sequester more carbon per acre than many other ecosystems, and provide important habitats to birds like the Wood Thrush, which has declined by 60% over the last 50 years. Let’s remember that Nature is our best hope.” – Robert LaFrance, Director of Policy for Connecticut, National Audubon Society

“Our Connecticut programs that promote climate-smart conservation practices as a component of nature-based solutions are a great value. They help build a more resilient food system, increase recharge of our aquifers, reduce flooding, and protect biodiversity in a changing climate.” – Kip Kolesinskas, Steering Committee Co-Chair, Working Lands Alliance

“DEEP’s Nature-Based Solutions Initiative Program Evaluation rightly recognizes soil health as a cross-landscape priority because healthy soils are the foundation that makes many nature-based solutions work. Investing in soil health now means investing in prevention – reducing future remediation costs from erosion, flooding, polluted runoff, compaction, contamination, and degraded landscapes, while strengthening carbon storage, biodiversity, water quality, and climate resilience.” – Lilian Ruiz, Executive Director, CT Council on Soil & Water Conservation

“One of the best examples of the economic benefits of nature-based solutions is the 1997 New York City Watershed Agreement that protects drinking water for 8 million residents. In the 1990’s, NYC had a choice, either build a new water filtration facility at a cost of $8-10 billion plus an annual operating cost of $1 million; or provide clean water by protecting the Catskill and Delaware watersheds through land acquisition, restoration, and management of its forests, wetlands, and watercourses. This successful filtration avoidance program was recently reauthorized by EPA in December 2025 and is a model for using NBS for protecting water resources including drinking water supplies.” – Denise Savageau, President, CT Association of Conservation Districts

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