Baylands Resilience Framework

SFEI helps planners, regulatory agencies, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders make informed decisions about where and how to implement nature-based solutions for sea-level rise adaptation. The Adaptation Atlas identified places suitable for various types of nature-based solutions, including tidal marshes, mudflats, eelgrass, beaches, and oyster reefs. The Baylands Resilience Framework goes beyond opportunity mapping, creating tangible tools to inform the development of targeted projects in a data-driven process. These resilience metrics provide a starting point for site design and planning and the regional context needed for comparison when making strategic decisions on prioritization.

To tackle the question of what constitutes bayland resilience, an organizing principle is needed to divide the relevant concepts into understandable categories. The Baylands Resilience Framework is organized around the concept of “ecosystem services”: the benefits provided by ecosystems to people. When baylands planners and managers talk about resilience, they are often interested in ensuring the persistence of the ecosystem services that a well-functioning shoreline can provide: things like flood attenuation, carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, wildlife support, and recreation. The goal of the Baylands Resilience Framework is to define and measure the factors that contribute to the resilience of bayland ecosystem services.

We are approaching work on the Baylands Resilience Framework by developing high-level framing documents for each ecosystem service, then honing into specific quantitative measurements.

Ecosystem Service Documents:

Baylands Resilience Framework for Wildlife Support
Baylands Resilience Framework for Flood Attenuation

Outputs (Resilience Metrics):

Regional Analysis of Potential Beneficial Use Locations for San Francisco Bay (includes wildlife support and flood attenuation metrics, as well as sediment placement feasibility metrics)

Partners: