| Sustainable Use of Sand in Nature-based solutions |
Acronym: SUSANA
Period: February 2023 till January 2026
Status: Planned
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| Institutes (6) |
Top |
- Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), more, partner
- Universiteit Gent; Faculteit Wetenschappen; Vakgroep Biologie; Onderzoeksgroep Mariene Biologie (MARBIOL), more, proposer
- Instituut voor Landbouw-, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek (ILVO), more, partner
- KU Leuven (KULeuven), more, partner
- Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen (IRScNB/KBIN), more, partner
- De Blauwe Cluster vzw, more, partner
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| Abstract |
A great challenge in the large-scale implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) lies in dealing with
the finite nature of sand resources and with the unintended impacts on the marine ecosystem caused
by sand extraction activities. Truly sustainable NBS, in addition to producing ecosystem services (ES),
must also minimize negative externalities which may be generated in areas that are distant from where
the NBS is constructed. This includes (1) increasing the use of alternative sand sources to safeguard
sand resources in the longer-term, and (2) impact mitigation of sand extraction. However, no integrated
method is available today that allows to balance these trade-offs between offshore sand extraction and
its onshore use for the development of NBS.
The goal of SUSANA is therefore to develop an integrated model of the ES at the NBS with the ES at
the sand extraction sites, supporting the development of a long-term strategy for the sustainable use
of sand in nature-based solutions. Specific focus is on the dune-in-front-of-dike principle as a working
case. SUSANA investigates how alternative sand sources impact on the ecosystem functions that
support dune development and that provide the key ES in the coastal zone, i.e. vegetation
development, aeolian transport and dune erosion, as well as their reciprocal interactions. In parallel,
SUSANA quantifies how important ecosystem services (water quality regulation, food production and
climate regulation) are affected by sand extraction in the near-field, using in situ measurements of
the functional processes underpinning these ES. For the first time, cumulative impact forecasting will
be developed accounting for the main seabed-disturbing activities and ES of sensitive ecological
receptors. The results will feed the development of a coupled ES-model of dune-in-front-of-dike and
sand extraction sites, which will be a first in its kind to account for cross-system impacts and reduce
burden shifting as a result of resource consumption. Using the model, the sustainability of future
scenarios for the implementation of NBS are investigated. Together with an analysis of the feasibility
of cost-beneficial (re)use cases, this will result in a long-term strategy on the sustainable use of sand in
NBS. |
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