News
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in African urban cities
Explore how nature-based solutions can be applied in African cities and urban informal settlements in this video, which includes insights into why context-specific design and inclusive partnerships are essential.
Dr Estelle Razanatsoa joins PiNC Lab
PiNC Lab welcomes Research Officer Dr Estelle Razanatsoa to its team. Her work contributes important insights into resilience, sustainability, and adaptation pathways that apply today and in the future.
How early career research exchange can attract more women in STEM
PiNC Lab’s Ruwani Walawege reflects on the value of women in STEM studying nature-based solutions, and how exchange fellowships design can better enable their participation.
Climate change hits South African women unevenly: why race, class, age and power matter
In this article from The Conversation, researchers from the PiNC Lab at ACDI reveal why race, class, age and power matter when designing policies that respond to climate risks and reach the women who need support the most.
PiNC Lab researchers join new Data to Model (D2M) project
PiNC Lab’s Dr Petra Holden and Dr Assumpta Onyeagoziri are supporting a new three-year project that aims to improve hydrological modelling practice in South Africa.
Recognising co-benefits of ethical community engagement in ALBATROSS
By providing qualitative data collection training to youth in the Umzimvubu Catchment area of South Africa, PiNC Lab researchers working on the ALBATROSS project demonstrate the potential of co-benefits and ethical engagement.
Exploring responsible uses of AI in environmental science
AI tools can help streamline repetitive processes, but Honours research from PiNC Lab’s Luyanda Mazibuko cautions that interpretation, context and critical judgment are better left in human hands.
Improving representation of African ecosystems in land surface models
New research on the classification parameters of African plant species from PiNC Lab’s Enimhien Akhabue and Petra Holden has been published in Nature's Scientific Data journal.
How resilient are nature-based solutions to climate change over the coming decades
PiNC researchers working with the ALBATROSS project have modelled how biodiversity linked to nature-based solutions could shift under future climate scenarios to identify priority ALBATROSS hubs where the solutions are likely to be most stable and effective in future.
Understanding gendered climate vulnerability in South Africa
New research on gendered vulnerability to climate impacts has been published, with contributions from PiNC Lab’s Petra Holden.
Bridging climate science, NbS research and local action with ALBATROSS
Findings on integrating nature-based solutions and climate services to improve climate resilience across Sub-Saharan Africa were presented by PiNC Research Officer Dr Cherié Forbes at the ALBATROSS project 2nd General Assembly in Madagascar.
Community-led urban ecosystem restoration project kicks off in Lusaka
The meeting, marking the new project’s inception, aimed to deepen regional partnerships to ensure the ecosystem restoration interventions produced by the project are socially inclusive and ecologically sound.
PiNC Lab’s Glynis Humphrey joins FIREPOL as a regional expert
The project examines the political and societal dimensions of wildfires, as well as the role of local knowledge, to foster inclusive, climate-resilient approaches in policy and practice.
What are nature-based solutions and how do they benefit us?
This info brief, developed by the Tuwe Pamoja project, outlines four types of NbS to illustrate how they can support climate change adaptation by reducing people’s exposure, sensitivity and vulnerability to climate impacts, and by increasing their adaptive capacity.
Pathways through which nature-based solutions can support people’s adaptation to climate change
A literature review led by the ACDI’s PiNC Lab as part of its work with the ALBATROSS project, aims to identify distributional impacts of NbS in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, and Tanzania.
Curiosity about a changing environment leads Phumudzo Ragimana to a master’s with distinction
Celebrating her master’s achievement in March 2025, PiNC Lab’s Phumudzo Ragimana reflects on her academic journey and the value of researching your community.
Dr Cherié Janine Forbes joins PiNC
PiNC Lab welcomes Research Officer Dr Cherié Janine Forbes to its team, where she brings a background deeply rooted in biodiversity and interdisciplinary science to address challenges posed by climate change.
Maximising the potential of Integrated Fire Management for people and nature
New research assessing integrated fire management (IFM) as an adaptation and mitigation strategy to altered fire regimes has been published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment with contributions from PiNC Lab’s Glynis Humphrey.
Structural differences in hydrological models and implications for NbS
Research from the PiNC Lab lead and colleagues aims to quantify uncertainty from hydrological model structural differences for clearing invasive alien trees from mountain catchments in a water scarce region of South Africa.
Carbon revenues fuel misguided policies in African conservation
PiNC Lab’s Glynis Humphrey and a group of international researchers working in Africa have published new work that raises caution around a single veld-burning strategy to sequester carbon in order to capitalise on carbon credits.