Public actor (e.g. municipality)

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) 'Water Vole Recovery Project' is working in partnership with the Environment Agency, the Canal & River Trust and Thames Water to monitor water voles. Water voles have undergone one of the most serious declines of any wild mammal in Britain during the 20th century. The intensification of agriculture in the 1940s and 1950s caused the loss and degradation of habitat, but the most rapid period of decline was during the 1980s and 1990s as American mink spread. Between 1989 and 1998, the population fell by almost 90 percent! The above project also is identifying habitat enhancement opportunities and influencing local landowners to manage sites sympathetically for water voles and implement mink control. (Ref. 1)

The intervention takes place in one of the most important parks in Palermo, and the area plays an important role, by hosting several plant and animal species, and the intervention consisted of creating an agricultural area within the park with a community-based approach. This proved that agricultural initiative had an economic role to play for the city, and at the same time can enhance social inclusiveness. (Ref.1.)

The Biodroom is a community garden where citizens can meet each other, children can play, and where vegetables are grown ecologically. The Biodrome started as a laboratory for art, gardening and ecology in the city: a temporary culture project with art manifestations, but is since 2014 it functions as a community garden that is maintained by citizens (Ref. 1).

A large-scale restoration of park Zapaden over 53 hectare had started in 2017, aiming to restore the aesthetic appearance of the park, and to preserve its authentic character and value for Sofia as the second biggest park in the city. Many activities were planned, including restoration of green areas, restoration of a lake and a rock-garden (renovating the artificial lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, and adding new vegetation), and adding new flowers and greenery. In addition, renovation and creation of new grey infrastructure such as playgrounds, alleys, lighting, cameras, irrigation systems, camp grounds, and more is planned. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2)

While it is difficult to assess how much work has been completed as of 2020, recent websites (from 2018) claim: "The park has two main parts – one has alleys built in it, as well as places for leisure and the other is a forest perfect for the hotter days of the year. The green part ends at the Smardana locality where people can find a lake." (Ref. 10)

Wertach Vital is a project to reconstitute the Wertach river between the southern Augsburg limits and its confluence with the river Lech. Starting from the south, the flood protection has been improved, the depth of the river bottom has been halted, the river bed has been expanded and the banks have been upgraded as a recreational area. A major part of the measures has been completed. The project is supported by the Free State of Bavaria and the City of Augsburg, co-financed by the EU (Ref. 1).

The Lolli-Malaspina area of the central station intervention aims to replace the current urban space and to replace it with a system that can complete and integrate the existing one, and generate a new centrality, transforming the current laceration into an urban seam. There are new gardens outside the central station, which link the different areas of the railway, and it has been implemented because the area of the central station is a strategical node for the city which has to be reinforced with new green areas. (Ref.1.)

Management of natural lime-dry grasslands on gravel banks in Augsburg is conducted by the Landcape Association of the City of Augsburg (Bavaria, Germany). 300 ha of biotopes within the municipal area is maintained due to sheep grazing, mowing management, scrub clearance and reopening of potential expansion areas as well as further activities to create initial stages of immature soils and recreational purposes (Ref. 1).

The park was reconstructed by the municipality of Sofia in order to improve the local living environment and provide suitable conditions for rest, recreation, and sport. Actions included restoring the lake by reconstructing the bank, restoring flower gardens by adding 80 000 new flowers, and restoring green areas.
(Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)

Instead of expanding the Ring of Antwerp to improve mobility, the municipality of Antwerp decided to use the space to create a Green Ring of 13 kilometers consisting of a wide range of projects (Ref. 3). This large city plan contains green spaces along the Ring, green corridors between those green spaces and with existing parks, a new green park, neighborhood green spaces, restoring the historical city wall and so on (Ref. 3). The plan also contains measures to improve water storing capacity (Ref. 4).

Fobney Island in Reading (which is an area by the River Kennet in Berkshire county) was transformed through a restoration project in order to e.g. attract wildlife (birds; bats; water voles; otters). This partnership project (with work being carried out by the Environment Agency, Reading Borough Council, Thames Water and the Thames Rivers Restoration Trust), includes restoring the river and creating wetlands. (Ref. 1-3)