Brief: Cascais Living Lab - Rewilding of Riberia Das Vinhas. Deep dive case.

This brief presents the results of a flood damage modelling approach applied to the Ribeira das Vinhas catchment area in the Municipality of Cascais in Portugal, in order to evaluate the economic value of nature restoration interventions. Results showed that nature-based solutions can deliver economic advantages while generating broader social benefits: NbS in Cascais helped reduce displaced population by flooding by 60% and cut flood-related damages by 43%. These results were complemented by an expert survey which reported positive changes across all assessed ecosystem services, especially recreational value and ecological quality.