The article proposes a data framework for assessing how nature-based solutions contribute to the metabolism of informal settlements. It addresses the mismatch between data-intensive assessment methods and contexts where official datasets are fragmented, outdated or absent.

The framework organises locally obtainable information around resource flows, ecosystem functions, settlement conditions and governance. It emphasises bottom-up data collection and the integration of community knowledge, enabling assessments to begin from the realities of informal resource management rather than from the requirements of standard urban databases.

This contribution makes nature-based-solutions assessment more applicable and inclusive. It provides the methodological basis for subsequent applications in Ghana and supports comparison without erasing local specificity.