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World Cities Day

31 October 2024, New York, United States of America

Statement by Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the World Habitat Day, 7 October 2024

Statement by Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the World Habitat Day, 7 October 2024

World Cities Day

31 October 2023, New York, United States of America

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the World Cities Day, 31 October 2023

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the World Cities Day, 31 October 2023

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the World Habitat Day, 2 October 2023

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the World Habitat Day, 2 October 2023

World Cities Day

31 October 2022, Nairobi, Kenya

Statement by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on the occasion of World Cities Day 2022, 31 October 2022

Statement by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on the occasion of World Cities Day 2022, 31 October 2022

World Tourism Day

27 September 2022, Madrid, Spain

International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

7 September 2022, New York, United States of America

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 ...

Urban biodiversity: What is it, and why is it urgently needed?

Did you know that urban biodiversity makes you happier, increases sales at local businesses, and makes children develop their cognitive skills better, among other benefits? Urban restoration aims to renaturalize cities to make them compatible with lost nature, which is part of humanity. Why is i ...

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.

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.

Here is a six-step decision framework to include nature-based solutions in city-planning

Cities are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and put at risk many of the life-sustaining ecosystems on which communities and livelihoods depend.

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 ...

Transforming Trees Into Skyscrapers

Brumunddal, a small municipality on the northeastern shore of Lake Mjøsa, in Norway, has for most of its history had little to recommend it to the passing visitor. There are no picturesque streets with cafés and boutiques, as there are in the ski resort of Lillehammer, some thirty miles to the n ...

How investing in green infrastructure helps cities manage the effects of the climate crisis and creates healthy communities

Setting ordinances to build more green roofs, planting trees and native plants, and designing community green spaces are just a few ways that many cities are investing in green infrastructure to solve climate-related problems and promote the health of residents.

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 ...

The people building edible cities

"I view urban agriculture as a wonderful Trojan horse," says Nicolas Brassier, owner of Peas&Love, an urban farm that has expanded to seven sites across France and Belgium in the past two years

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 ...

Hiding in plain sight, ‘cryptic species’ may be all around us

On a warm evening in the spring of 2020, Jeremy Feinberg stood at the edge of a moonlit pond. He was on the Delmarva Peninsula, on the east side of Chesapeake Bay, an estuary in the eastern United States. “Chuck!” Feinberg called across the water. “Chuck! Chuck!” He cupped his hands behind his e ...