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Imagine cities that don’t just fight against floods, heatwaves, and pollution, but adapt by working with nature itself. The India Forum for Nature-based Solutions works in cities across India, including Jaipur, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. Across India, this vision is slowly becoming a reality as planners and communities rediscover the role of ecosystems in making urban life healthier and more resilient. 

The India Forum for Nature-based Solutions is helping shift city planning from concrete-first to nature-alongside. By 2030, it aims to climate-proof 100 million people and safeguard $100 billion worth of urban infrastructure through interventions that are ecological and practical in design. The idea is simple yet transformative - restore ecosystems, weave them into city planning, and let natural systems complement engineered ones. 

On the ground, this translates into wetlands, a natural water body that soaks up excess rain and filters pollutants, mangroves that protect coastlines, rooftop gardens that cool heat islands, and urban parks that give both biodiversity and people space to thrive. These are not decorative add-ons but vital urban infrastructure, helping cities adapt to climate shocks while making them healthier and more liveable. 

The Forum’s role is to connect the dots by bringing together entrepreneurs, researchers, civil society organizations, and government to share knowledge, build tools, and scale up proven models. Demonstration projects feed into policy conversations, training and capacity-building help municipal bodies adopt nature-based approaches, and data is used to track, measure, and strengthen impact.  

What makes this work powerful is its insistence on equity. The benefits of restored ecosystems are not just ecological but social with much cooler neighbourhoods, cleaner air, reduced flooding, and more inclusive public spaces. For many urban residents, especially in vulnerable communities, these interventions can mean the difference between crisis and resilience. 

The Forum’s work isn’t just about planting trees or restoring wetlands. It’s about reimagining what it means to build a city - landscapes that cool, absorb water, and support biodiversity, policies that protect them, city governments that value ecosystem services, and citizens who expect green as part of their built environment.  

To learn more about how nature-based solutions are being scaled across India’s cities, visit: nbs4india.org