1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
Urban population in Paraguay, which represented 37% of the total population in 1974, has increased to a current 59%. As Asunción has evolved from a small city to a metropolitan region it has experienced several problems. The growth of the metropolitan area has been unstructured rather than planned, creating a series of urban problems that affect the city’s environment, economy, and quality of life, including transport (an increase in emissions resulting in air pollution), solid waste (increase in GHG emissions generated by the decomposition of waste resulting in soil pollution), and biodiversity threats as it is being eroded through habitat conversion and degradation leading to fragmentation, reducing the viability of populations. As such, the intervention aims:
1) To improve urban planning taking into account environmental sustainability indicators in Asunción and its Metropolitan Area;
2) To reduce emissions from the public transport sector in the AMA by focusing on the optimization of the bus route, promoting bicycle lanes and generating options for the reconversion of the bus fleet;
3) To generate models for improving the management of solid urban waste for the AMA, promoting recycling measures and reducing waste through awareness campaigns;
4) To create a green belt for the AMA based on the consolidation of green areas already existing or to be created in Asunción.
5) Asuncion is vulnerable to extreme events due to its location on the shores of the Paraguay River and related cyclical floods, which poses additional challenges for transport and waste management. To address these challenges through proper urban planning (1,2)
1) To improve urban planning taking into account environmental sustainability indicators in Asunción and its Metropolitan Area;
2) To reduce emissions from the public transport sector in the AMA by focusing on the optimization of the bus route, promoting bicycle lanes and generating options for the reconversion of the bus fleet;
3) To generate models for improving the management of solid urban waste for the AMA, promoting recycling measures and reducing waste through awareness campaigns;
4) To create a green belt for the AMA based on the consolidation of green areas already existing or to be created in Asunción.
5) Asuncion is vulnerable to extreme events due to its location on the shores of the Paraguay River and related cyclical floods, which poses additional challenges for transport and waste management. To address these challenges through proper urban planning (1,2)
Quantitative targets
Targeting over 30,000 families that live in the so-called bañados (lowlands), which are part of the river´s flood plain, and are affected by each flooding directly and around 500,000 inhabitants indirectly (population of Asuncion at large)
1,227,442 tCO2e of emissions mitigated and hijacked through transport-oriented development, green infrastructure and the implementation of solid waste management policy
13.2 g of TEQ emissions of unintentional POPs reduced through a waste and chemical management system
Increasing the global population (number of individuals) of 5 emblematic species - Cinnamon player (Tryngites subruficollis); Golden plover (Pluvialis dominica); Small Pititoi (Tringa flavipes); White rump player (Calidris fuscicollis) and the chest Playerito (Calidris melanotos)
An exhaustive list of quantitative targets is presented in reference no. 2
(1,2)
1,227,442 tCO2e of emissions mitigated and hijacked through transport-oriented development, green infrastructure and the implementation of solid waste management policy
13.2 g of TEQ emissions of unintentional POPs reduced through a waste and chemical management system
Increasing the global population (number of individuals) of 5 emblematic species - Cinnamon player (Tryngites subruficollis); Golden plover (Pluvialis dominica); Small Pititoi (Tringa flavipes); White rump player (Calidris fuscicollis) and the chest Playerito (Calidris melanotos)
An exhaustive list of quantitative targets is presented in reference no. 2
(1,2)
Monitoring indicators defined
Number of people benefiting from the intervention
Types of species included
Emission mitigated through green infrastructure, transport and solid waste policies
Emissions mitigated through a waste and chemical management system
An exhaustive list of quantitative targets is presented in reference no. 2
(1,2)
Types of species included
Emission mitigated through green infrastructure, transport and solid waste policies
Emissions mitigated through a waste and chemical management system
An exhaustive list of quantitative targets is presented in reference no. 2
(1,2)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate change mitigation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Implementation activities
The "Green Assumption of the Americas - Sustainable Pathways" project has four components, the first of which is the functional framework for a sustainable and resilient city; the second having mobility and sustainable transport in the WADA; the third management of solid waste and chemicals; and the fourth, the management of urban green areas. (2)In 2020, the municipality worked on three principles: general project conditions, generation of the cartographic database and territorial diagnosis. Also in 2020 the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADES), with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), developed the "Guide to Urban Arborization for the Metropolitan Area of Asunción", a document with everything we need to know about the subject. In 2021, within the framework of the initiative, "Live Parks Laboratory!" which covers a series of training activities promoted by the Ministry of Urban Planning, Housing and Habitat, central and local government officials, are trained in the management of public spaces. (5) In 2021 the "Green Corridors" project was started, which consists of connecting the existing green spaces, considered as "lungs" of the city, through arteries where biodiversity in both flora and fauna will be the protagonists. Among the most important spaces are Guasu Park, the Botanical Garden and Ñu Guasu.
This will be possible by identifying streets that can be intervened with planting trees, shrubs, flowers, so that they consolidate as a corridor, in order to create "biodiversity islands" through green facades that promote the consolidation of the ecosystem in an urban environment. (6)
This will be possible by identifying streets that can be intervened with planting trees, shrubs, flowers, so that they consolidate as a corridor, in order to create "biodiversity islands" through green facades that promote the consolidation of the ecosystem in an urban environment. (6)
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
I'd considered the intervention a product innovation for 2 reasons: 1. A 600 km bicycle lanes network, connecting all eleven cities within Asunción’s metropolitan area, is being built. 2. An Arborization Manual has been produced which has been introduced to each bus stop in Asuncion and named after different species of native trees from Asunción and includes a QR code that links to the manual. (4,7)
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
