Local government/municipality

The revitalization of the Saski Garden in Lublin in 2013 restored this space of local heritage historic character and cultural significance. Revitalization works included: cleaning and maintenance of existing trees and plants, planting extensive greenery, ICCTV and open access to wi-fi in the area of a renovated amphitheatre, revitalization of walking paths and ponds, small architectural elements like benches and a playground, and rainwater sewage system and a fountain [1,3,7].

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Cymru’s Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff aims to engage thousands of children, their families, and local communities with Cardiff’s wildlife, enabling them to take action for nature (ref 9). To do this, the project provides free outreach sessions in nurseries, early-years settings/schools, and primary schools across Cardiff to help children discover the wildlife in their school grounds. To reach families, nature-based activities are held. Finally, the project supports communities to help improve and manage pollinator-friendly Urban Buzz sites across the city (ref 9).

After more than one 100 trees were slaughtered in a few months upon order of the city in 2016, the association "Défenses des Arbres en Pays d'Aix" was created by multiple NGOs with the purpose of saving the plant heritage of Aix-en-Provence. Their main goal was to encourage the city's council to establish a "Charter for trees" dedicated to the city of Aix en Provence (Ref. 1). The work of the association was useful as the city decided to engage in a new charter, and prepare a new planting season with 64 trees (in 2016) (Ref. 4). The Charter was developed in 2017 (Ref. 6) and an environmental management plan for activities was developed in 2018 (Ref. 7).

The reserve is a biodiversity hot-spot within Cardiff Bay. The reedbed and other aquatic plants, are very productive vegetation and a habitat for birds. Prior to the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage, it was made up of mudflats and salt marsh. (Ref 1) The site was chosen by Cardiff Harbour Authority to create a new environment and compensate in part for the loss of the mudflats which were submerged after completion of the Cardiff Bay Barrage. Floating timber structures serve as breeding areas for birds, an underwater bund prevents wave erosion, and a boom keeps out waterborne debris (Ref 5).

“Balne Lane Fields are an area of land close to the city centre of Wakefield. The site comprises of an area of nine hectares, which includes a former landfill site that has been restored to open green space. Part of the site is within a flood zone (Balne Beck).” “The field is popular with the local population for informal recreation. The potential to improve the variety of recreational uses, ecological value and environmental quality together with its links to both local communities and strategic greenspaces make it an important piece of green infrastructure in the City of Wakefield.” (Ref. 1)

Cardiff City Council and Urban Buzz brought together local organizations, community groups supporting wildlife, to create environments to encourage more bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other insects. (ref 1). One project inspired by Urban Buzz is Pharma Bee, a project housed and run by Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, that worked to create a bee-friendly campus through their PharmaBees team (ref 7). In association with Urban Buzz, a project run by BugLife, it renovated the Cardiff University’s Redwood Building by planting bee-friendly plants (ref 2), installed beehives and trained bee-keepers (ref 7). The efforts were then expanded to the Hayden Ellis building on Cardiff University's campus (ref 7).

The Interpretation Centre at the Cardiff Castle is displaying a green roof of wildflowers. As well as changing the look of the roof, the wildflower meadow has increased the biodiversity of the area. The nectar-rich species of wildflower turf attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The roof had a simple irrigation system built into the substrate where the maintenance would be minimal (ref 3).

The project aims to preserve the river ecosystem and provide a suitable place for social life by the river. For the purpose, only natural materials will be used in strengthening the basin. Part of the activities include planting grass and natural vegetation in order to boost the ecosystem, including tall plants that provide shelter and a nesting place for birds. The area under work will cover 10.6 kilometres of the urban part of the river (Ref. 1).

In response to floods that had been afflicting the Rhiwbina area of Cardiff, a capital scheme was promoted in order to develop an integrated Rhiwbina Flood Defence Scheme. First, a pond was built in the Caedlyn Park to capture peak flows during extreme rainfall (ref 2; ref 8). The City of Cardiff also built low walls alongside the brook that flows through the neighbourhood to better channel water while also removing debris and reinstating the banks that had eroded over time (ref 1; ref 2). Additionally, by realigning and widening the watercourse, establishing earth bunds and creating a large attenuation pond downstream that aligns with the drainage system (ref 7). Taken together, flood risk decreased for the area overall, assisting local residents.

"The proposal is to create a leisure landscape in the countryside to the south of Wakefield, Featherstone and the South East Rural Renaissance areas. The project looks at integrating a series of existing environmental and historic attractions such as Nostell Priory Estate, Newmillerdam Country Park, Haw Park and Anglers Country Park in a landscape that is shaped by reclaimed open cast mining, and features e.g. an innovative forest planting scheme". The proposal is part of the ‘Strategic projects’ to deliver Wakefield’s vision for green infrastructure. (Ref. 1, 2)