Understanding nature-positive engineering through sector examples

Building with Nature, Indonesia40

Northern Java’s deltaic coastlines face significant challenges from land subsidence, severe erosion, and frequent flooding. The removal of mangrove belts, unsustainable aquaculture practices, groundwater extraction, and poorly planned coastal infrastructure have exacerbated the region’s vulnerability. Traditional hard infrastructure, such as dams and seawalls, has proven ineffective and unsustainable in addressing the complex challenges of muddy coastlines.

The Building with Nature approach in Northern Java combines NbS with hard-engineering techniques to address coastal erosion’s root causes and enhance resilience. Mangrove restoration, provides a natural buffer against erosion, storm surges, and saline intrusion. Semi-permeable barriers made from local materials like brushwood and bamboo were constructed offshore to reduce wave energy, trap sediment, and create conditions conducive to natural mangrove regeneration. The restored ecosystems provide critical coastal protection while supporting biodiversity and improving ecosystem health. Mangroves serve as nurseries for various fish species, enhance carbon storage, and improve water purification. The reintroduction of mangrove belts has also revived local fisheries and created habitats for diverse marine and terrestrial species.

Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) encompasses wind, tidal, and wave technologies expanding rapidly to meet decarbonisation targets. By displacing fossil fuel emissions, ORE simultaneously addresses climate change and supports biodiversity recovery by reducing a key driver of nature’s decline.41 Offshore wind dominates current deployments globally.

In the most advanced regions, offshore wind projects increasingly integrate nature enhancement features, leveraging established regulatory frameworks, mature environmental assessment practices, and deeper industry experience with stakeholder engagement. There’s growing momentum to ensure nature-positive engineering is embraced across the lifecycle, with several pilots and studies investigating coexistence between engineered structures and marine biodiversity.42 However, uncertainty over environmental effects during construction and operation remains a major barrier to the consenting and timely deployment of offshore wind projects, increasing costs and adding pressure on regulatory systems.

Current and emerging nature-positive engineering practices across the lifecycle of offshore wind projects include:43, 44, 45

• Offshore wind farm spatial planning ensures turbines are located to avoid sensitive habitats and migration routes. Where impacts are unavoidable, restoration interventions such as seagrass replanting or oyster bed restoration, can potentially offset biodiversity losses.
• Low-impact design measures include silent piling technologies (e.g. suction caissons) or noise-reducing technologies during impact pile driving, to minimise disturbance to marine or freshwater ecosystems.
• Ecological compensation measures such as kittiwake hotels46 are offshore artificial nesting structures designed to compensate for habitat loss linked to wind farm development.

Nature-inclusive designs (NID), a term used in the context of ORE, such as:

• Scour and cable protection measures including specially designed concrete mattresses, biodegradable reef structures, and shell-based substrates that not only stabilise infrastructure but also create niches for lobsters, shellfish, and other crustaceans.
• Reef-type add-ons are modular prefabricated structures that create artificial habitats such as Biohutss®47 and fish hotels integrated into turbine foundations. • Water replenishment holes, originally intended to reduce corrosion, can be used to create microhabitats, and reef-like concrete blocks or adapted rock protections.
• Integration of biodiversity monitoring within routine asset inspections and maintenance to measure ecological indicators, such as species presence, concurrently with collecting data from structural assessment.48
• Design with end-of-life considerations in mind, facilitating the reuse and recycling of components and reducing the amount of virgin materials needed to be mined or manufactured for new offshore wind farms.49

Red Electrica ecological sub-sea cable protection in the Canary Islands50

As part of the sub-sea interconnection project between the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, Red Eléctrica, the Spanish transmission system operator, worked with ECOncrete to develop and deploy a bespoke ecological, concrete solution for protecting the cable along its sub-sea trench. ECOncrete incorporated recycled and supplementary materials to address Red Eléctrica’s challenge to cap the cable trench in the rocky seabed between the islands. Conventional cable protection methods typically use plain concrete or rock dumps, which have significant environmental footprints but provide no benefits to local ecosystems. This alternative solution was required not only to safeguard the cable but also to support and enhance the surrounding marine ecosystem and its biodiversity.

What makes this project particularly valuable for future infrastructure development is the rigorous scientific approach to monitoring ecological outcomes. The two companies have launched a monitoring study with the main objective of assessing biological growth within the ECOncrete cable protection solution (trench protection units) and the surrounding reef, including detailed documentation of species composition and measurement of biodiversity indices.

Two years after installation, marine life is thriving along the route and the cable protection has merged with the natural marine habitat, to the extent that the installation is in most parts invisible to the naked eye. This biological diversity demonstrates true ecological integration, with the artificial structures now functioning as natural reef environments.

Fish Hotels in Hollandse Kust Noord, Netherlands51

Dutch transmission system operator TenneT partnered with marine ecology specialists Ecocean to enhance biodiversity at their Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm located 18.5 kilometers off the west coast of the Netherlands. The collaboration, which began in 2021, involved installing innovative ‘fish hotels’ on the jacket legs of the offshore high voltage station.

These structures consist of metal frames that each house three ‘biohuts’ filled with oyster shells. Their design creates protected spaces where young fish can shelter from predators whilst finding abundant food sources, boosting local fish populations and supporting a wider network of marine life.

Engineers designed these fish hotels with durability in mind, ensuring they would withstand the harsh North Sea environment. Initial inspections have confirmed that the structures remain intact and functional. Their positioning above the seabed represents a thoughtful design choice that reduces both predator exposure and sediment accumulation that might otherwise compromise their effectiveness.

TenneT has begun its first ecological monitoring programme, employing sophisticated techniques including Remotely Operated Vehicle imaging and environmental DNA analysis. The early results appear promising, as TenneT has already integrated fish hotels into their technical standards for upcoming offshore platforms.

More recently, ports are starting to embrace development approaches that go beyond decarbonisation, aiming to protect and actively restore natural ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen community resilience

Shipping and ports enable over 80% of world trade, yet at the same time their development and operations place significant pressure on natural ecosystems through air and water pollution, underwater noise, dredging, land reclamation, and the introduction of invasive species via ballast water. These pressures contribute to biodiversity loss, disrupt sediment dynamics, degrade water and air quality, and create cumulative environmental burdens extending from coastal zones into adjacent inland ecosystems.

‘Green ports’ refer to ports that are designed and operated to minimise environmental impact while promoting efficient resource use. They integrate sustainable practices across operations, such as reducing emissions, through a combination of technological, infrastructural, and management measures. The goal is to balance port development and economic demand with environmental protection and community wellbeing. 52

More recently, ports are starting to embrace development approaches that go beyond decarbonisation, aiming to protect and actively restore natural ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen community resilience. These strategies are increasingly being institutionalised through Integrated Port Management (IPM) frameworks, which align biodiversity and ecosystem health considerations across the entire lifecycle of port development, from site selection and design to operation and monitoring.53

Nature-positive solutions currently being implemented in the context of ports draw from established approaches such as Working with Nature54 and those presented for coastal protection. Some examples include:

• Natural wave protection solutions, such as sandbar or submerged breakwaters, dissipate wave energy naturally and protect the port while creating shallow water nursery areas for juvenile fish and invertebrates. Another example is living reefs of oysters and mussels, which serve as natural breakwaters while filtering water and creating complex habitats for a diversity of marine species.
• Marine protection structures and living seawalls can be enhanced with ecological features. These specialised concrete formulations promote biological colonisation and shaping surfaces with cavities and textures to encourage marine life colonisation.
• Artificial substrates and floating structures can be put in place in areas where natural restoration proves challenging, improving water quality and enhancing coastal resilience without compromising essential infrastructure functionality.
• Clean dredged material from port maintenance activities offers valuable opportunities for habitat creation, supporting wetland restoration, beach nourishment, and the establishment of nature reserves to offset the ecological impacts of port development.
• Water quality and pollution control innovations include advanced treatment technologies and near real-time monitoring systems that reduce pollutants entering marine environments, effectively managing runoff, oil spills, and chemical discharges. Reducing pollution in ports protects marine life, ensures safe operations, and benefits local communities reliant on fishing and recreation.

How sand can protect both the ports and nature: The Lekki Sandbar Breakwater, Nigeria55

The Lekki sandbar breakwater at Dangote’s marine terminal in Lagos State, Nigeria, exemplifies how natural sand movement processes can be used to form a defense that protects port infrastructure while enhancing coastal ecosystems.

Engineers from CDR International and Svašek Hydraulics designed a breakwater made mainly out of sand. Using state-of-the-art mathematical modeling, the sandbar breakwater is strategically positioned to block the most powerful waves, protecting the ships and port infrastructure. The design includes a ‘sand engine’ – an area where sand naturally accumulates and then gradually feeds back into the coastal system, helping to mitigate downdrift erosion and stabilise the shoreline.

Instead of destroying intertidal zones (the areas that are underwater at high tide but exposed at low tide) as traditional rigid structures like concrete walls often do, this design expanded these critical habitats. The sandbar breakwater can naturally adapt to changing conditions, including sea-level rise caused by climate change. As water levels rise, the sand naturally redistributes to maintain its protective function.

The project has already demonstrated its value, with new beach areas forming that have been incorporated into the terminal’s expansion. Rather than degrading over time like traditional infrastructure, this natural system actually improves as it settles into equilibrium with local conditions.

Making Westport People- and Nature-positive, Western Australia56

Westport, integrates seagrass management as part of a broader initiative that combines advanced technology, environmental monitoring, community engagement, and innovative port design.

Westport initially conducted comprehensive investigations to identify critical components of the natural system, recognising seagrass as the essential asset to protect in their port development plans. They mapped over 4,000 hectares of seagrass across four marine zones, using this data to inform strategic decisions.

Based on this understanding, Westport relocated the port footprint one kilometre south to avoid large-scale seagrass removal, reducing direct impacts to just 2% of existing meadows. Beyond protection, Westport is leading restoration efforts, collaborating with the Western Australian Marine Science Institution to improve understanding of seagrass resilience.

The initiative incorporates innovative technology, including Australia’s first trial of robotic seagrass planting equipment that injects seeds directly into sediment to enhance germination rates. This approach is complemented by comprehensive stakeholder engagement and a long-term environmental monitoring programme that enables adaptive management of restoration efforts.