Degraded Natural Infrastructure

Degraded natural infrastructure happens when the natural systems that support life—like forests, wetlands, rivers, grasslands, or coral reefs—are damaged, worn down, or altered in ways that reduce their ability to function normally. Natural infrastructure refers to nature’s built-in features that provide valuable services to humans and the environment, much like the way roads, water pipes, and buildings—what we call built infrastructure—support societies. Trees store carbon and cool cities, marshes filter water and absorb floodwaters, and healthy soils produce food. But when these systems are impaired, they lose their effectiveness, and that can lead to a chain reaction of problems.

This degradation commonly occurs from a mix of human activities and natural disturbances. Clearing land for farming or cities, overgrazing by livestock, logging, mining, excessive fishing, building dams or draining wetlands, and pollution are among the main ways people degrade ecosystems. Natural events, such as hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, or pest outbreaks, can also push natural infrastructure past its breaking point, especially if these systems were already weakened by human pressures.

Take forests as an example. When they’re cleared for agriculture or urban development, the habitat for wildlife shrinks, soil is exposed to erosion, and the ecosystem loses its ability to regulate water and climate. Without tree roots to anchor the soil, rain washes it away, leading to sedimentation in rivers and reservoirs, which harms water quality and aquatic life. The loss of trees also means less carbon is removed from the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

Wetlands serve as another example. They act as nature’s kidneys, filtering pollutants out of water and absorbing floodwaters. However, many wetlands have been drained to make way for farms or buildings. When they’re gone, those areas lose their buffer against flooding and their ability to remove nutrients and contaminants from water. This can lead to more severe floods downstream and worsen water pollution in rivers, lakes, or oceans. These changes can also impair drinking water sources, increase costs for water treatment, and destroy habitats for birds, fish, amphibians, and other creatures.

Soil is a kind of natural infrastructure that can degrade in ways that aren’t always visible at first. Intensive farming, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and deforestation can break down the structure of soils, reducing their ability to hold water, support plant life, and store carbon. When this happens, crop yields can decrease, droughts may have more severe effects, and dust storms become more likely. Soil erosion can also carry fertilizer and pesticides into waterways, threatening aquatic ecosystems and contaminating drinking water.

Coastal systems, like dunes, salt marshes, and coral reefs, provide protection from storms, help stabilize shorelines, and support rich biodiversity. They face threats from construction, pollution, and climate change-driven sea level rise and ocean acidification. When coral reefs die, for example, they stop shielding shorelines from big waves and storm surges, leading to increased coastal erosion and putting coastal communities at greater risk. The loss of reefs and marshes also means losing nursery grounds for many commercial fish species, impacting food supplies and local economies.

Rivers and their floodplains also act as natural infrastructure by carrying water, nutrients, and sediments, supporting agriculture, wildlife, and people. But when rivers are dammed, straightened, or heavily polluted, they lose many critical functions. Dams may provide benefits like hydropower and reservoirs, but they can disrupt fish migration, reduce sediment flow needed to maintain fertile farmlands and deltas, and change water temperature and chemistry, causing harm to aquatic life.

These types of degradation collectively reduce nature’s ability to provide what scientists call “ecosystem services”—the benefits people get from healthy natural environments. This can mean increased flooding, poorer water quality, loss of pollinators (which help grow crops), declines in fisheries, hotter cities, more severe droughts, and increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, subtler effects may be felt in the form of lost places for recreation, culture, and spiritual fulfillment that many people find in nature.

Fixing or preventing degraded natural infrastructure requires understanding the root causes and restoring natural processes as much as possible. This can include replanting trees, allowing rivers to flow more naturally, restoring wetlands, reducing pollutant runoff from farms and cities, and using more sustainable land management practices. Protecting and rehabilitating these natural features doesn’t just help wildlife—the benefits flow back to people in the form of cleaner water, reduced disaster risks, greater food security, and climate stability.

Overall, when we degrade nature’s infrastructure, we undercut the foundation that supports life and livelihoods. The impacts may be local—such as floods or water shortages—but often ripple far beyond, affecting climate, economies, and health. Protecting natural infrastructure isn’t just an environmental priority; it’s essential for a healthy and resilient society, especially in a world facing the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. The more we recognize the value of these natural systems and invest in their upkeep and recovery, the more we can safeguard both human well-being and the planet’s future.