Coastal Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBFs) Ranked: Co-Benefits for Coastal Buildings and Target Areas for the Creation of New or Restoration of NNBFs in Coastal Virginia

Authors

Pamela Mason, Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow
Jessica Hendricks, Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow
Julie Herman, Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow

Document Type

Data

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

VIMS Department/Program

Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM)

Publication Date

5-2021

Data Access

See Download tab and additional files below.

Abstract

Community resilience to storm-driven coastal flooding is improved with the presence of natural and nature-based features (NNBFs) such as wetlands, wooded areas, living shorelines, and beaches. These natural and created features can provide multiple benefits for a local community, including mitigating the impacts of storm surge and sea-level rise and allowing communities to take advantage of programmatic incentive programs like FEMA’s Community Rating System and nutrient reduction crediting.

As part of a NOAA-funded project NA17NOS4730142, an exportable geospatial protocol and NNBF ranking methodology was developed with the goal of incentivizing the protection and creation of NNBFs across Chesapeake Bay localities by highlighting the multiple benefits these features can provide, identifying target areas where new or restored NNBFs would benefit buildings that lack in benefits from existing NNBFs, and incorporating this information within existing online tools for local and state managers and regulators.

Description

Data collection methods: NNBFs and target areas were determined for lands at less than 10-feet in coastal Virginia. Data acquisition and methodology are described in the metadata (embedded in the shapefile).

Data is in zip file, shapefile format, readable by ESRI ArcGIS Pro/ArcMap software.

Files | Description

• Folder: TargetAreas_NNBFs_Shapefile | Files:_NewNNBF.shp : Shapefile – embedded metadata, 8 files IN Download tab
• Folder: Coastal_NNBF_Ranked | Files: NNBF_CCRM_2020.shp : Shapefile – embedded metadata, 8 files IN Additional materials section.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25773/d9pv-gb12

Keywords

Flooding, sea level rise, NNBFs, natural and nature-based features, resilience, Virginia, restoration, FEMA open space, water quality, co-benefits

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Funding

This work was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through grant # NA17NOS4730142. These data and related items have not been formally disseminated by NOAA, and do not represent any agency determination, view, or policy.

Recommended Citation

Mason, Pamela; Hendricks, Jessica; and Herman, Julie, "Coastal Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBFs) Ranked: Co-Benefits for Coastal Buildings and Target Areas for the Creation of New or Restoration of NNBFs in Coastal Virginia" (2021). Data. William & Mary.

https://doi.org/10.25773/d9pv-gb12