Ongoing

Al Shaheed Park is the largest park in the country. The park was designed to include besides its green spaces, several buildings (museums, parking) populated with green roofs and an artificial lake. The size of the park with all the mentioned grey and green elements stands at 20 ha. The park is viewed as an encompassing part of a green belt that surrounds the city of Kuwait. From an environmental point of view, the park was built to protect the city from sandstorms and to reduce air pollution. From a cultural point of view, the park and the museums are providing the public with high-quality programs, events and spaces, and part of their mission is to spread awareness and educate the public on the importance of the country’s land, history and environment, in addition to the encouragement of international and regional exchange of arts. In addition, the park is meant to commemorate the victims of the first Gulf War. (1,2,3)

Extensive and low-lying, Suriname’s coastal region has been identified as highly vulnerable to climate-induced sea-level rise (Ref. 1). "Momentarily the most endangered community by sea-level rise in the whole of South America and the Caribbean", the Suriname Building With Nature project has seen "wooden, water penetrable dams...being built to trap sediment and replant mangroves" (Ref. 1). Prior to the implementation of the Building With Nature project, no mitigation measures had been undertaken to protect the area, and "human interference ha[d] converted mangrove areas to agricultural land, fishing ponds and settlements", with the loss of stabilisation provided by the mangroves meaning that "the coast has become susceptible to flooding and erosion, losing up to 27 meters of land in one year" (Ref. 1). It has caused "displacement of local habitants and loss of livelihoods, [with]...the local population...and its fisheries, farms, and important religious and cultural sites [being] at risk to frequent flooding and land degradation" (Ref. 1). The Building With Nature approach is touted as being "essential for mangrove and biodiversity conservation and the enhancement of the quantity of the blue carbon sequestered in coastal areas" (Ref. 2).

Otchiva is the name of the NGO dedicated to reclaiming this Angolan Mangrove ecosystem, which has been disappearing at a frightening speed due to the rapid urbanization and huge demand for construction. A study shows that 60% of the loss of Mangroves in the Gulf of Guinea from Liberia to Angola is accredited to fuelwood exploitation for fish smoking, wood for construction, petroleum and gas exploration and exploitation activities along the coast and urban construction activities. In order to address issues of biodiversity loss and deforestation at a rapid rate, Otchiva embarked on a mangrove reforestation program, starting with 2019. The project by Otchiva is being implemented in all provinces of the coast of Angola Fernanda says. The Municipality of Lobito and the Capital of Angola in Luanda are the 2 places where the project already presents results. (2)

The city of Bishkek once had the status of one of the greenest and most pleasant cities in the Soviet Union. The situation has deteriorated from year to year, so much so that in 2009 Bishkek was ranked sixteenth in the list of the thirty dirtiest cities in the world in a study published by The Blacksmith Institute, an American NGO which discloses each year an urban environment assessment report. This is why it seems urgent to us to react and work to protect, renovate and develop the green spaces of Bishkek. The proposed project aims to protect the unique forest of Bishkek called Karagachevaïa Rocha (“grove of elms”) and to redevelop it to make it an environmental education centre. This center, which would be the first of its kind in Kyrgyzstan, would include in the same place an arboretum, a leisure area as well as an animal park in which various rare or endangered species, present in Kyrgyzstan or in the countries of Central Asia, would be kept in semi-freedom. Karagachevaya Rocha has nearly 123 hectares in total, which is the largest green space in Bishkek and one of the oldest. This adds a symbolic character to the project. (3)

The Armenia Tree Project is a national initiative founded in 1994. The project engages in involving different community members in an urban planting program, environmental education and outreach. ATP has targeted the most vulnerable communities with the most need for greenery. The focus and attention that is given to these areas help trees to grow and flourish but also creates a stronger bond between the inhabitants and the land they live on. Major greening sites are typically public parks, schools, kindergartens, cultural centers, military bases, churches, historical monuments and other significant landmarks. ATP also focused on Yerevan, the capital of Armenia which has become the "theatre" of many planting campaigns. From a climate change perspective, the project addresses issues of clean air and temperature regulation, as Armenia confronts a frequency of extreme weather events, worsening desertification and land degradation. From a biodiversity perspective, the project aims to conserve the country's rich biodiversity and to restore its ecosystems. (1,2,3)

Kibera is Nairobi's largest slum/informal settlement. Kibera houses about 250,000 people and is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest in the world. The Government owns all the land in this settlement. 10% of people are shack owners and many of these people own many other shacks and let them out to tenants. The remaining 90% of residents are tenants with no rights. Most of the inhabitants confront themselves with a food crisis. The project at Kibera is a recent initiative of the National Youth Service (NYS), a government agency that promotes youth affairs through the ministry of devolution and planning. The approach is seen as a cheap and healthy solution to food insecurity and runaway unemployment in Nairobi’s slum. The project also addresses climate change as food insecurity is related to an intense period of droughts: longer periods of drought (likely a result of climate change) in sub-Saharan Africa, meant the farmers had to depend on rainfall to water their crops. From a biodiversity point of view, the project will help with the urban biodiversity restoration (1,3)

Kampala called ‘The Green town’ its capital and the most important city in Uganda. The town nearing the Lake Victoria into the South, depicts both colonial and contemporary architecture and has a population of approximately 2 million people, spread over 21 slopes. The city also has a continuous flux of human capital (caused by the effects of climate change- e.g. droughts, erratic rains) from the country's rural regions which puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the environment, through inefficient resources and unstastainable settlement patterns. As a response, the city of Kampala tried to address climate change mitigation by initiating a large tree planting project in Kampala and its outskirts. (1,2) The plan identified “proper management of urban natural assets” and the planting of 500,000 trees as ways for Kampala to become a lower carbon and more climate-resilient city. One of its desired impacts was “increased green spaces and trees in households for improved health and income”. (3)

Park Podnikolie, with an area of about 100 hectares, is part of the water-green frame of the city and is included in the conservation zone of the historical and cultural value of the city of Mogilev [4,11]. Since olden times on the territory of Podnikol, there were up to 400 manor plots, occupied mainly by vegetable gardens. Now Podnikolie is a large park, which has become a favourite place for residents and guests of the regional centre [1]. More than 1125 tree saplings have been planted on the territory of Podnikolie to preserve the integrity of the historical ground, the historical territory [1,9,10,11]. Thus, the park is also called the "green heart" of Mogilev city. The densely planted area is officially a quiet recreation area where people "merge" with nature [1,2,6,10]. The project's goal is to improve the urban management system, promote the implementation of the principles of green urban planning, and improve citizens' quality of life through effective cooperation between local authorities and the population [2,9,10].

Recognising the benefits which urban forests bring to its citizens, Salvador has committed to protecting and restoring the Atlantic Forest, and has developed its own local framework which goes beyond national requirements (Ref. 1). The city has launched several programmes under its 'Salvador, Capital da Mata Atlantica' initiative, which together aim to restore the forest which has "suffered from severe deforestation" (Ref. 1). Included under the umbrella initiative are programmes such as the "'Delivery of trees', recovery of parks and collective planting" (Ref. 4).

Campinas is a fast-growing city and like many cities in Brazil, it confronts itself with many climatic incidents linked to a hotter and drier climate. In Campinas, in spite of the good performance of the city and the region in economic areas, there is a historical lack of urban landscape planning that integrates adequate social housing and areas that should be protected, such as riparian corridors, ecosystem remnants and other relevant green areas that offer ecosystem services in the urbanised context. Campinas has developed plans, projects and programmes to tackle regional, municipal and local issues related to environmental quality and offer green areas to the least privileged residents. Ecological corridors are being designed to connect forested fragments and/or relevant ecological areas to enable the genetic flow. The municipal green plan adopted the concept of a connectivity line to promote ecological corridors. (1,2)