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"Cities for Life: City & Subnational Biodiversity Summit" A Forum for Local and Subnational Governments in parallel with the 11th meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 15-16 October 2012 - Hyderabad, India

Reference: SCBD/AM/OH/80589 (2012-117)
To: CBD National Focal Points and relevant organizations

"We need agriculture back in our cities and in our minds"

Our cities need to become part of our agricultural system. In recent decades it has become increasingly clear that the way we live and eat is a big threat to our health and the health of our ecosystem. Climate change is forcing us to rethink our way of life and to reconnect agriculture back into ...

'Sweet City': the Costa Rica suburb that gave citizenship to bees, plants and trees

“Pollinators were the key,” says Edgar Mora, reflecting on the decision to recognise every bee, bat, hummingbird and butterfly as a citizen of Curridabat during his 12-year spell as mayor.

'Sweet City': the Costa Rica suburb that gave citizenship to bees, plants and trees

“Pollinators were the key,” says Edgar Mora, reflecting on the decision to recognise every bee, bat, hummingbird and butterfly as a citizen of Curridabat during his 12-year spell as mayor.

'The bliss of a quiet period': lockdown is a unique chance to study the nature of cities

Empty streets and skies let the birds be heard and leave animals free to roam as well as allowing scientists to examine how humans change urban biodiversity.

'We are not alone' in fighting climate change, says Freetown mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

Over 90 mayors of the world's biggest cities have signed a Global Green New Deal in Copenhagen this week.

10 of our favourite green buildings in the world

Against the stark concrete skyline of Sydney, Australia, one building’s cascading green gardens unfurl like a vertical oasis. Completed in late 2013, One Central Park (pictured, above) won a suite of high-profile awards in 2014 (including Best Tall Building in the World) thanks to its clever fea ...

10th World Wilderness Congress (WILD10)

4 - 10 October 2013, Salamanca, Spain

15 innovations bringing nature back into our cities

We live in an urban era, by 2050 cities will host nearly 70% of humanity. If cities don’t heal their relationship with nature, our species will face increasing threats. In this foreseeable future we might forget that cities are living systems where the positive relationship between the natural a ...

20+ Cities Call for Integrating Climate, Biodiversity Concerns into Urban Planning

More than 20 cities, including Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Dakar (Senegal), Helsinki (Finland), Paris (France), La Paz (Bolivia), Melaka (Malaysia) and São Paulo (Brazil), have endorsed a statement on urban development that integrates environmental considerations, including low-emission targets, lo ...

8 Cities Rewilding Their Urban Spaces

In the midst of a massive, global loss of nature, cities around the world are finding ways to protect and expand open spaces and "rewild" their communities.

A forest in a city: Maintaining Chandigarh’s green cover in the face of urbanisation

With Chandigarh’s growing reputation as nature’s paradise, every aspect of this man-made creation, originally spread over 47 blocks of 246 acres each, vindicates the visionary thinking of the early planners. Surely, Le Corbusier, Dr. M.S. Randhawa and others must be smiling at the evolution of C ...

A million trees planted - what next?

Trees for Cities recently planted our millionth tree. This of course is a huge achievement - but it also strikes a chord, and reminds us that there is much more to do.

A model city in Japan is helping Asian cities go green

Without dissolved oxygen, fish cannot survive. Healthy water normally contains between 7-8 mg/l of the gas.

A preliminary framework for better urban agroforestry

Today's cities don't have walls for protection like ancient ones, but they are separate from less urban and rural land. Most goods that city-dwellers purchase are brought in from rural farms and manufacturers. There is an active community of urban gardeners and landscape architects who are tryin ...

Abu Dhabi’s new urban biodiversity park enhances local microclimate

The name, which is Arabic for “The Shade Park,” is a nod to the park’s use of nature-based design solutions to reduce the area’s warming through trees and shrubs. According to the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport, it’s the first urban park in the UAE to use biodiversity to en ...

Accidental countryside: why nature thrives in unlikely places

With its trees still naked after winter, Lordship Road in the London borough of Hackney is an urban vista of asphalt, brick and concrete. Heading north, a pair of tower blocks loom from the horizon.

Accra wins award for Informal Waste Collection Expansion project

Ghana’s capital city, Accra, has been mentioned among the 2019 ‘World's Seven Best Climate Projects’ for its Informal Waste Collection Expansion project. The recognition puts Accra among this year’s seven short-listed cities of the ‘C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards.’

After the Renowned Vertical Forest in Milan, the Concept of Urban Forestry by Architect Stefano Boeri Spreads in Northern Europe, Starting From Eindhoven, Utrecht and Antwerp

Worldwide, cities produce about 70% of the CO2 present in the atmosphere, while forests and woods are able to absorb 40% of it. Increasing wooded areas within and around cities would multiply the resilience capacities of urban areas and would drastically reduce the production of CO2, thanks to p ...

Agreements reached on actions to integrate biodiversity in forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and tourism sectors and to achieve the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development

Air pollution-eating moss cleans hotspots in Europe

When 26-year-old Peter Sänger and 34-year-old Liang Wu got together, they realized right away that they had something in common.

All 98 municipalities are now competing in Denmark’s biodiversity competition

Last February, the Danish Minister of the Environment, Lea Wermelin, invited all of Denmark’s 98 municipalities to participate in the national competition, “Denmark’s Wildest Municipality”. 92 municipalities accepted the invitation and ramped up their efforts to promote biodiversity in their cities.

Allison Hanes: Montreal conference puts a new perspective on parks

Montreal’s parks are a source of pride for this dense, urban metropolis.

An urban wetland springs to life among Bogota’s high rises

An open plaza in Bogota’s northeastern business district has been radically transformed from a place of pure pavement to a vibrant urban wetland. Colombian architecture firm Obraestudio completed the project in 2016 in the Santa Barbara business center to revitalize the outdoor common space shar ...

Are cities Europe's new biodiversity hotspots?

While rummaging through part of Amsterdam's city park, citizen scientists discovered new insect species. Their aim was to show that even in Earth's busiest places, biodiversity is still underexplored.

Are these ancient ruins in Honduras the legendary 'White City'?

Deep in the northeastern Honduran rainforest, according to local lore, hides an ancient metropolis known as "La Ciudad Blanca," or "The White City." Its name alludes to imposing pillars of white stone that were allegedly glimpsed by Spanish colonizers and, later, Western explorers; the city is r ...

Artist unveils ambitious plans for a forest in central London

London's Somerset House, a well-known historical arts center in the middle of the capital, will soon be home to a forest of 400 trees.

As cities move forward on implementing the agenda under the Convention, they will show that they can lead the way in sustainably using biodiversity and the ecosystem services it underpins, as the basis for addressing water and food security, disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and other key issues.

As coronavirus forces lockdowns, parks lift spirits in cities

As the coronavirus outbreak shutters gyms, malls and swimming pools, residents from Los Angeles to Bangkok are heading to parks and open spaces during lockdowns, highlighting their vital role in protecting health and wellbeing, urban experts said.

Banking on nature: a Mexican city adapts to climate change

The Mexican city of Xalapa is surrounded by ecosystems that not only harbor stunning flora and fauna, but also provide crucial services to the city and its 580,000 people.

Bee population steady in Dutch cities thanks to pollinator strategy

Bee hotels, bee stops and a honey highway are some of the components of a national pollinator strategy that the Dutch are crediting with keeping their urban bee population steady in recent years, after a period of worrying decline.

Big brains or many babies: How birds can thrive in urban environments

A new study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution suggests that birds have two alternative strategies for coping with the difficulties of humanity's increasingly chaotic cities - either by having large brains or through more frequent breeding.

Biocultural Diversity in Cities: Mainstreaming policies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the context of Olympics Games

This side event seeks to contribute to the debate on implementation and effectiveness of the international regime on biocultural diversity at the local level. Firstly, it focuses on the relationship between nature and culture in cities and the role of culture in sustainability, particularly rega ...

Biodiversity and the city

Within their Nature in the City Strategy, Hamilton City Council set themselves the ambitious target of moving from 1.8% to 10% native vegetation cover in Kirikiriroa by 2050. Across the city there are hundreds of patches of green that they could target for native regeneration. So where should th ...

Biodiversity in Urban Environments

Biodiversity has become ubiquitous in project descriptions as yet another mark of the design's environmental accomplishments. The increasing focus on sustainability, the standard inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, prompts a deeper understanding of what biodiversity in urban enviro ...

Birds in cities

Birds have two alternative strategies for coping with the difficulties of humanity’s increasingly chaotic cities. They need to either have large brains or breed many times over their life in order to thrive in urban environments, according to a new study involving University College London (UCL).

Building Capacity for the Subnational Implementation of NBSAPs

Reference: SCBD/MPO/AF/AM/84790 (2015-075)
To: CBD National Focal Points

By 2050, an estimated 6.3 billion people will inhabit the world’s towns and cities – an increase of 3.5 billion from 2010.

Calgary named 1 of 4 bird-friendly cities by Nature Canada

Calgary has been named one of the country's four bird friendly cities by the group, Nature Canada. The designation came into effect in Calgary on May 7 — along with Toronto, Vancouver and London, Ont. — one day ahead of World Migratory Bird Day.

Call the cavalry! Horses ride to rescue of an inner city garden

It’s not often that the City of London’s police horses are asked to trample on someone’s garden. But when the request came, it wasn’t made by a spiteful neighbour but a group of community wildlife gardeners who wanted divots in their grass.

Can tiny forests breathe fresh air into our cities?

After gaining popularity across Asia, small, dense ecosystems are taking root in Europe's urban areas. Advocates say they improve biodiversity, air quality and even our well-being. But do they live up to the hype?

Choosing the right trees for a changing climate

In urban environments, trees are threatened by heatwaves and lack of rain, both predicted to increase in coming decades. Towns and cities are often home to a great diversity of trees, including those with a high tolerance of climate extremes, but species' selection criteria and climate-risk asse ...

Cities and Biodiversity.

Presentation of Japanese approach on urban biodiversity conservation through urban policy by the national government and local governments, for example developing city parks, conservation of green spaces and promotion of urban greenery with participation of communities to contribute to discussio ...

Cities and the United Nations pulling together for biodiversity: Global partnership meets in Bonn

Montreal, 15 September 2011— At an international strategic meeting, held in the Old Town Hall, Bonn, on 5-6 September 2011, Bonn Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf invited the members of the Global Partnership on Local and Sub-Na ...

Cities and their rising impacts on biodiversity - a global overview

Cities and their rising impacts on biodiversity versity. To gain a clearer picture of the situation, an international group of scientists, including Professor Andrew Gonzalez from McGill’s Biology Department, surveyed over 600 studies on the impacts of urban growth on biodiversity. They publishe ...

Cities are driving evolution at a rapid rate

In Montreal, red-backed salamanders sequestered in parks possess different genetic traits than those outside of the parks. In Tucson, house finches are developing longer and wider beaks to eat sunflower seeds from bird feeders, which are larger and harder to break than those found in nature.

Cities are shrinking wildlife globally but we can fix this

Cities are homes for billions of people. By 2050 around 70% of the global population is predicted to live in urban areas. Yet as our cities grow, most species have an increasingly hard time surviving on this planet. A new report titled Nature in the Urban Century highlights the scale of the cha ...

Cities can fight climate change and improve lives by finding new ways to be cool

Life has always been hotter in cities.

Cities can grow without wrecking reefs and oceans. Here’s how

“What happens if the water temperature rises by a few degrees?” is the 2018 International Year of the Reef leading question.

Cities can help migrating birds on their way by planting more trees and turning lights off at night

Millions of birds travel between their breeding and wintering grounds during spring and autumn migration, creating one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world. These journeys often span incredible distances. For example, the Blackpoll Warbler, which weighs less than half an ounce, may tr ...

Cities for Life: Cities’ and Sub-national Governments’ Biodiversity Summit

15 - 16 October 2012, Hyderabad, India

Cities in 2018: Simple ideas, fancy urban tech

The SDGs and the New Urban Agenda remain a challenge for cities. Goal 11 of the SDGs, to build sustainable cities, has proved to be a particularly tough one for urban areas across continents.

Cities should consider nature-based solutions to climate change

It's 2050 You walk out of the house. The day is shiny but not too hot. You know that the mirrors in orbit around the planet that reflect back sunlight keep the climate just perfect. On the way to work, from the window of your self-driving floating solar module, you gaze over a plant installed a ...

Cities' Answer to Sprawl? Go Wild.

In a neighborhood of right-angled stone, stucco and brick buildings not far from Milan’s central train station, two thin towers stand out. Green and shaggy-edged, they look like they’re made of trees. In fact, they’re merely covered in trees — hundreds of them, growing up from the towers’ stagge ...

Cities, Local Authorities and Biodiversity: Improving cooperation for local implementation of the CBD

ICLEI, the SCBD and participants of the Global Partnership on Cities and Biodiversity will update delegates on the development of a plan of action to complement decision IX/28, and highlight examples of successul cooperation between national, sub-national and local governments

Cities: how urban design can make people less likely to use public spaces

Urban beautification campaigns are usually sold to local residents as a way to improve their daily lives. Design elements—from lighting systems to signs, benches, bollards, fountains and planters, and sometimes even surveillance equipment—are used to refurbish and embellish public spaces.

City Biodiversity Summit 2010

24 - 26 October 2010, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

City Biodiversity Summit 2010, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from 24 to 26 October 2010

Reference: SCBD/OH/cr/ch/70364 (2010-023)
To: CBD National Focal Points

I have the honour to inform you that, at the invitation of Aichi Prefecture, City of Nagoya and Aichi-Nagoya COP-10 CBD Promotion Committee, the City Biodiversity Summit 2010 will be held in conjunction with the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological ...

City of Edmonton a model of local government support for the CBD

Montreal, 18 October 2011 – In recognition of the need to complement Parties’ uptake of decision X/22 and the associated Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011-2020), the City of Edmonton, Canada, has formally aligned its own city-wid ...

Civil Society Urges Inclusive, Resilient & Sustainable Urban Areas of the Future

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, USA, Sep 9 2019 (IPS) - The United Nations held its first major international conference in one of America’s mountain states, bringing scores of civil society organizations (CSOs) to discuss ways on making “cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustain ...

Colloque 2011 du CSBQ (Centre de la Science de la Biodiversité du Québec) / QCSB 2011 Symposium

8 - 9 December 2011, Montreal, Canada

Communique: Mayor of Montpellier, France, visits Convention Secretariat

Communiqué: City of Edmonton a model of local government support for the CBD

Communiqué: Global alliance of cities and governments to save biodiversity of the Mediterranean region

Communiqué: Meeting of sub-national governments opens new chapter in implementation of the CBD

Communiqué:Cities and the United Nations pulling together for biodiversity: Global partnership meets in Bonn

Coronavirus: The wildlife species enjoying lockdown

As the UK enters it fourth week of lockdown, conservationists say they have seen some hidden benefits of the restrictions in the natural world.

Coronavirus: we're in a real-time laboratory of a more sustainable urban future

A pause has been forced on urban life. Quiet roads, empty skies, deserted high streets and parks, closed cinemas, cafés and museums—a break in the spending and work frenzy so familiar to us all. The reality of lockdown is making ghost towns of the places we once knew. Everything we know about ou ...

Costa Rica’s Environmental Commitment Awarded by Unesco

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that the United Nations Organization for Science, Education and Culture (Unesco) has awarded the city of San José the Netexplo Linking Cities 2021 Award, in the category ‘Zero Carbon Objective’.

Do Cities Hold the Key to Protecting Biodiversity?

From the smallest organism to the largest, all living things play unique roles that keep the earth in balance. With numerous functions spanning insects and birds that pollinate flowers to bear fruits, plants absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing oxygen to purify the air and ...

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Information Note for Participants

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Towards Aichi/Nagoya: Second Curitiba Declaration on Local Authorities and Biodiversity

Don’t feed the ducks: royal parks warn of bullying bird behaviour after lockdown

London’s royal parks are urging visitors to stop feeding bread to ducks because it is causing overcrowding and bullying among birds, the Guardian can reveal.

EFFEKT to present 'naturbyen' nature village at the venice architecture biennale 2021

Copenhagen-based studio EFFEKT has presented plans for a residential development that forms part of its contribution to the upcoming venice architecture biennale. Titled ‘naturbyen’, a name that translates as ‘nature village’, the project will see a field in denmark transformed into a completely ...

Earth Observations Toolkit for Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements

Cities around the world face numerous environmental hazards, such as extreme heat events, landslides, pollution, and flooding. Cities must monitor and address these hazards to reduce risks to, and enhance resilience of, their residents to climate change impacts.

Ecocity World Summit 2011

22 - 26 August 2011, Montreal, Canada

Electric cars alone won't save the planet. We'll need to design cities so people can walk and cycle safely

At the COP26 climate summit, world politicians patted themselves on their backs for coming to a last-minute agreement. Humanity now waits with bated breath to see if countries implement the commitments they made, and if those commitments help the planet.

Recommendation 5/5

Engagement with subnational and local governments

Engaging Cities of the World in the Battle for Life on Earth

Montreal 25 June 2008. The growth of the urban world represents one of the most dramatic changes experienced by humanity in recent history. For the first time in history, the world’s urban population is now greater than that of rural areas, having reached 3.2 billion people. It has increased ...

Engaging Cities of the World in the Battle for Life on Earth.

Expert Workshop on the Development of the Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity

10 - 12 February 2009, Singapore City, Singapore

Explore nature and help Cape Town win the City Nature Challenge — here's how

The City of Cape Town will open several of its nature reserves to the public and has arranged free guided walks between April 30 and May 3. Residents have been urged to get out and explore nature to capture as many wild plants and animals as possible and help the city win this year's City Nature ...

Fall leaves on your lawn can improve soil, biodiversity and environment: experts

Leaves changing colour in the fall is a beautiful sign of transitioning seasons, but as they fall and gather on our lawns raking them up can be a daunting task for home owners. Lucky for those hoping to avoid tedious yard work, experts suggest leaving the rake in the shed and leaves on the ground.

Feature: Enlightening next generation to protect butterflies, trees for cities

Butterflies flit among flowers and excited kids run trying to catch the elusive, gorgeously clad beauties in a garden located on the outskirts of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.

First issue of the Cities and Biodiversity Newsletter of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Reference: SCBD/OES/AD/cr/71248 (2010-054)
To: CBD National Focal Points

The Secretariat is pleased to announce that the first issue of the Cities and Biodiversity Newsletter of the Convention on Biological Diversity is now available on the Secretariat website at: http://www.cbd.int/authorities/doc/newsletter/cities-newsletter-01-01-en.pdf.

First meeting on the Implementation of the Plan of Action on Sub-National Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity 2011-2020

17 - 19 January 2011, Montpellier, France

Frog hotels: scientists build creative urban shelters to draw species back to Australian cities

Tadpoling is a thing of the past in many suburban creeks, as humans encroach on frogs’ territory. But there is a way to lure them back – frog hotels.

Giving Nature a Home in Cities: Bricks for Bees' Nests

Humanity's relationship with insects is ancient and complex. While they can spread disease and wipe out crops, they are also vital to our survival on Planet Earth, as pollinators and recyclers. Edward Osborne Wilson, a leading American biologist, stated in one of his articles that “If insects we ...

Global Environment for Cities - GEO for Cities: Towards green and just cities

Summary for city-level decision makers It is clear from the analysis provided in this second edition of GEO for Cities that cities have the potential to drive progress towards the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve this, cities must be designed or redesigned to use re ...

Global Partnership on Cities and Biodiversity, First Technical Expert Panel Workshop on City Biodiversity Index, Singapore, 10-12 February 2009

Reference: SCBD/SEL/OH/cr/65758 (2008-157)
To: CBD National Focal Points

Following up on paragraphs 5 and 6 of decision IX/28, and as announced at the high-level segment of COP 9 (Bonn, Germany, May 2008) by the Minister of National Development of Singapore, H.E. Mr. Mah Bow Tan, the government of Singapore, through its National Parks Board (NParks), is organising th ...

Global alliance of cities and governments to save biodiversity of the Mediterranean region

Montreal, 19 January 2012– For the first time, local authorities and representatives of government met in Montpellier from 17 to 19 January 2012 to implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, including the 20 Aichi Targets, in the Mediterranean region. Eighteen countries from the ...

Green Walls bridge gap between urban cities and nature

There is now a simple and easy way to remove pollution from the air, promote biodiversity and naturally control the temperature in your home – and it’s all thanks to a new community-focused resource designed to help urban dwellers go green.

Green jobs needed to make cities resilient against future crises

"If we adapt our cities at an early stage and make them resilient against future crises, we stand a much better chance and there are also economic gains," says Johan Colding, Director of Urban Studio at University of Gävle.

Green roofs can vastly improve city life, so why don’t we see more of them?

Rooftops covered with grass, vegetable gardens and lush foliage are now a common sight in many cities around the world. More and more private companies and city authorities are investing in green roofs, drawn to their wide-ranging benefits which include savings on energy costs, mitigating the ri ...

Green roofs improve the urban environment – so why don't all buildings have them?

Rooftops covered with grass, vegetable gardens and lush foliage are now a common sight in many cities around the world. More and more private companies and city authorities are investing in green roofs, drawn to their wide-ranging benefits which include savings on energy costs, mitigating the ri ...

Green rooftops and permeable pavements can help reduce risks of floods

Now that we are finally taking a breather from water scarcity and rationing, we are confronting increased flood risks brought by the south-west monsoon, as evidenced by the recent floods in Petaling Jaya, Penang and Kedah. Echoing Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman’s call to create ...

Green-feathered immigrant surge prompts Greek parakeet count

The raucous squawking comes first. Then they are seen, banking and diving before they crash-land on trees. If Greeks had been told, not long ago, that their skies would become the preserve of ring-necked parakeets, the response would have been one of incredulity.

Greener, healthier, more sustainable: why cities of the future need more biodiversity

Modern science has proven environmental factors heavily influence human health – which is why each and every one of us would benefit from an intact ecosphere with good quality air, water and produce. In fact, by changing the conditions in which we live, we might be able to improve our health and ...

Hanoi owns largest green spaces of all Vietnamese cities

Since 2016, Hanoi has developed a program to plant one million trees and so far the program has proven to be really effective, contributing to changing the landscape of the capital, creating trust for its residents about a green city in the future, Thuan said.

Hazards mapping, history and the future of Rust Belt cities

Using geographic information systems (GIS) and archaeology to model industrial hazards in postindustrial cities to guide planning and development.