Assessment of NBSs effectiveness for flood risk management: The Isar River case study

Nature-based solutions (NBSs) are increasingly implemented to mitigate natural risks in urban and rural contexts, from coastal to mountainous areas. Nevertheless, the lack of quantitative approaches to assess NBSs’ effectiveness limits their technical, social and cultural acceptance. Within the PHUSICOS project (EU H2020 Innovation Action; Grant Agreement nr. 776681) a comprehensive assessment framework tool (AFT) has been developed to fill this gap. This paper presents an ex-post analysis with the PHUSICOS AFT applied to the Isar River case study. The restoration of the urban reach of the Isar River, in the city of Munich, was implemented in the early 2000s and represents a successful example of ecosystem and user-friendly flood risk management plan. The performance of the NBS measures implemented to manage the flood risk and improve the ecological status of the river (NBS scenario) is assessed in comparison with an alternative scenario with traditional hard engineering measures (grey scenario, GS). Results underscore the NBS as a competitive alternative. The ex-post analysis shows the potential of the PHUSICOS AFT for NBS performance assessment, providing guidance on indicator selection, stakeholders’ management and performance assessment. The application discussed here is expected to aid professionals and researchers involved in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of NBSs.

PROBLEMATIKA HUKUM KESATUAN PENGELOLAAN HUTAN DI INDONESIA

The purpose of this research is to analyze the legal issues that cause FMUs to not work optimally in managing forests sustainably. Some of the legal issues analyzed are related to the institution, permit authority, funding, and RPHJP development. This research uses a statute approach and retrospective (ex-post) analysis by examining various laws and regulations in the forestry sector related to FMUs and its implementation. The results of this study indicate that the FMU has serious legal issues in terms of institution, permit authority, funding, and Long-Term Forest Management Plan/RPHJP development. From an institutional perspective, FMUs are at the crossroads of the authorities of the four directorates generals in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. In terms of authority, FMUs are the spearhead of forest management at the site level, but FMUs do not have adequate authority in managing forests in their areas. Then from the funding side, FMUs are faced with a minimum budget as well as no guarantee of funding for their RPHJP. And finally, in terms of the RPHJP development, FMU faces serious challenges after the enactment of Law No. 23/2014, and laws and regulations overlapping, particularly those related to the implementation of DG Forest Planology Regulation No. P.5/2012..

Improving the Guardrails

Future administration can begin undoing the mistakes of the Trump administration by reinstating prior norms concerning cost-benefit analysis and meaningful regulatory review. Several reforms can go even further and improve the regulatory system. One reform involves rethinking the role of ex-post analysis of regulation, to focus resources on identifying and addressing cross-cutting areas of uncertainty in regulatory decision making. A second area where improvements can be made is improving the quantification of costs and benefits that are currently left unquantified. A third area for improvement involves developing general guidelines for examining and weighing the distributional effects of regulatory decisions.