Socio-economic outcomes of ecological infrastructure investments

Ecological infrastructure refers to naturally functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people, such as filtered water and disaster risk reduction. With natural resources becoming scarcer, there is a growing interest in reinvesting in naturally functioning ecosystems in the form of ecological infrastructure, with the assumption that ecological infrastructure complements engineered infrastructure. In many lowand middle-income countries, ecological infrastructure interventions are seen as a key strategy to simultaneously alleviate poverty and improve ecosystem functioning. However, the socio-economic outcomes of ecological infrastructure investments remain poorly documented. We address this knowledge gap by synthesizing research (n = 53 cases) that analyses how ecological infrastructure investments affect ten different socio-economic dimensions, such as income and food security in lowand middle-income countries. We find that ecological infrastructure investments primarily lead to positive outcomes for short-term income and natural capital, whereas positive outcomes for other socioeconomic dimensions are less frequently observed. Cases with a high degree of participant involvement in the early implementation of ecological infrastructure investments are significantly more likely to capture positive outcomes across a variety of socio-economic dimensions. Analogously, cases spanning multiple methods rather than adopting either a qualitative or a quantitative approach - report positive outcomes across more dimensions.

Automated summary

Ecological infrastructure refers to natural functioning ecosystems that provide valuable services to people. Investments in ecological infrastructure primarily result in positive outcomes for short-term income and natural capital, with less frequent positive outcomes observed for other socioeconomic dimensions. Cases with high participant involvement in early implementation and utilizing multiple methods are more likely to achieve positive outcomes across various dimensions.