The aim of this study was to assess the flood protection benefits of reefs for protecting the most vulnerable people in the Dominican Republic (DR), Jamaica and Grenada. The study aims to support work on nature-based defenses and insurance by testing approaches for assessing connections between the benefits of nature-based defenses and socially vulnerable populations. The quantitative, spatially-explicit analyses applied in this study highlight where reefs provide the greatest flood protection services to vulnerable populations in DR, Jamaica and Grenada. Reefs provide significant annual flood protection savings for property and for vulnerable people. This work identifies where future reef loss may have the greatest impacts on vulnerable populations and where enhanced conservation and restoration will deliver the most benefits.

This work shows that – despite variations in the (sub)national data – we can quantify the social benefits provided by reefs for flood risk reduction. This quantification helps bolster the case for nature-based solutions and their role in climate adaptation and risk management as more than a “no-regret measure”. Restoring and managing coral reefs, quantifiably contributes to disaster risk reduction and livelihoods improvement and should thus be included in national adaptation and disaster risk management plans, particularly in the tropical Small Island Developing States where nature-based solutions can be a critical element of coastal protection.