Protection of natural ecosystems

“The Sintra Parks concluded the project of recovery of the English Garden, in the Park of Pena, that aimed to stop the advanced state of degradation of this area and to solve situations that represented a risk to the mobility and safety of the visitors.” (ref 1)
The NBS includes planting trees to regrow the tree cover of the area. (ref 1)

An intervention in the parks of Sintra relying on volunteer participation to eradicate invasive species from the green areas. The intervention was carried out on International Volunteer Day and volunteers removed the exotic weed species manually.
The manual work with volunteering was carried out in more sensitive places where herbicide can not be applied (water lines, protected habitats, etc ...) (ref.5)

A group of companies, coordinated by Citigroup and framed by the Sintra-Monte da Lua and Naturlink Parks, met to promote the environmental recovery of the Tapada do Mouco by rehabilitating the plant diversity in the area and removing invasive species in 2001.
The action took place when more than a hundred volunteers from the sponsoring companies triggered Tapada's recovery work” “selective cleaning of invasive alien species and afforestation with native trees and shrubs, such as oaks, ash, willows, arbutus, hazelnuts and holm oaks.” (1,2)

The project is a close-to-nature maintenance concept that combines the diverse usage requirements in public green spaces and the promotion of biological diversity through near-natural care. (Reference 1) It aims to promote biodiversity in the area through the plantings of local trees, installation of deadwood stacks, dry stone walls and boulders, which will help in the increased interconnectedness of the green areas and provide for structured habitat for the local species. The initiative also involves development of ecological standards for the handling of green spaces in the country, such as natural care practices that will protect local biodiversity (e.g. adapted mowing regime for lawns, flower meadows). (Reference 1, 2)
The "Urban green - species-rich and diverse" project is a cooperation project of the alliance "Municipalities for Biological Diversity eV" (Alliance) and the German Environmental Aid eV and with the participation of the five partner municipalities Frankfurt am Main, Hanover, Wernigerode, Kirchhain and Neu- Response. The project is funded in the Federal Biodiversity Program by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. The experiences and results of the pilot project are further incorporated into the maintenance requirements for public green spaces in the urban area in other municipalities (Reference 1, 7).

Tallinn implemented a community-based action plan for urban development in the Paljassaare conservation area, aimed at raising cattle on the Paljassaare peninsula, creating community-based beauty and vegetable gardens and restoring a wetland and lakeshores (ref. 3). The Paljassaare area several protected areas required active intervention in the form of care. The management of urban animals had the following objectives implemented: Paljassaare Wetland Complex Restoration; maintenance of a mosaic semi-natural habitat based on conservation values; updating protection regimes and organization; modern visitor arrangement based on protection values ​​and visitor intensiveness (ref. 2).

The project revitalized two old ponds – previous industrial and derelict area – and created two new ponds on the Marczukowska street in the city of Bialystok. The investment in its current shape is a tourist attraction and a valuable ecosystem for birds and amphibians. The project resulted in the increase of biodiversity in the area (additional ponds for the breeding of amphibians, two nesting islands not accessible to the public), and more effective management of the local water resources (cleaning and deepening of ponds, restoring an outflow for the excess water directly to the Biała river). Finally, it is a popular place with publicly open educational trails and bicycle paths [2,3,4].

Meadow orchards with fruit trees were an integral part of subsistence farming and form part of the cultural heritage of Wuppertal. To preserve and further develop these meadows as an important habitat for flora and fauna and promote their potential for sustainable consumption, 4 such meadows were sponsored, maintained and promoted by the city of Wuppertal in close collaboration with the working group for fruit meadows via events, communal harvesting activities and hands-on courses since 1999. Since 2015, these meadows have increasingly drawn the attention of "foodsharing" movements and during the nationwide research year "future town". (Ref. 1, 2, 6, 8). Enclosed between areas of intensive conventional agriculture and the federal motorway, the orchards as islands of biological diversity are important places of retreat and relaxation. (Ref. 5) Communal activities are also offered, such as the co-creation of “edible experience spaces”, joint harvesting and providing a base for additional social projects (Ref. 6).

This project is studying seagrass to learn more about the distribution and health of seagrass in the waters of the Solent. By learning about where seagrass exists it can be better protected. The Wildlife Trust have been visiting local seagrass sites including the harbour in Portsmouth (1). Measures that can be employed to help protect Zostera beds include Boat mooring management - a program of awareness to relieve pressure on seagrass in areas of high boating activity, such as the Solent (3) and restoration through seeding or transplanting seagrass and Improving habitat conditions to encourage natural regeneration and colonisation (3).

Forest of Bere has been identified as one of the key project areas of the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) Green Infrastructure Strategy. The goal is to allow urban populations of south Hampshire to have better access to quality green space. (1) Part of the forest, called Portsdown Hill, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is on the boundary of urban Portsmouth and supports extensive areas of calcareous grassland where a wide diversity of typical chalk grassland plants and insects can be found. The last twenty years have seen extensive areas of scrub being removed and restored to open grassland. The project aims to restore the once flourishing natural habitat of the forest while providing more recreational opportunities to the growing number of residents in the surrounding areas, was well as improving the ecological connectivity of separate woodlands (1,2,4,5).

Wetlands provide a varying degree of treatment of discharged water and are ideally suited for the containment and treatment of polluted water runoff, being a holistic example of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). The Dublin Local Authority installed an Integrated Constructed Wetland to treat polluted water discharged from the urban area, with the aim of cleaning urban runoff and drainage water. It was meant to purify water that discharges into a pond, and later on into the Tolka river. The project has been very successful in treating polluted water effectively, according to studies. (Ref. 1; Ref. 3)