1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Bari
Region
Europe
Short description of the intervention
The Lama Balice Nature Park is located near a long 'lama', which is a deep karst gorge, located north of the city of Bari. Established in an abandoned site, the nature park protects the area of the riverbed in the periphery of the city, acting as a natural channel for regulating water flow. It also serves as a recreational and cultural hub, while conserving agricultural functions and maintaining biodiversity. An administrative body consisting of the participating local mayors has been set up to manage the protected area. [1][2]

Address

Parco Naturale Regionale Lama Balice
Bari
Italy

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
1250000.00m²
NBS area
1250000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Previous derelict area
Other
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
The Lama Balice Nature Park was established as a protected area by the Apulia region on the site of an abandoned area, protecting one of the lame north of the centre of Bari (Ref.1). Previous derelict area.
Website of the intervention
http://www.parcolamabalice.it/#content
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2007
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2008
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Ongoing
Goals of the intervention
According to the Territorial Plan of the Regional Natural Park of Lama Balice, its goals are [1][3][6]:
- conserving biodiversity and the natural ecosystem;
- conserve and reorganize agricultural areas;
- recover the degraded and abandoned areas;
- improve the interaction between environmental systems and human settlements;
- improve accessibility and usability;
- to promote knowledge of the territory and the landscape.
Quantitative targets
unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Water management (SDG 6)
Flood protection
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Improving mental health
Improving physical health
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Build resilience
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
Create or improve outdoor spaces to help people escape from urban heat
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Species-focused
Ecosystem-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
Implementation activities
The park conserves the habitats and animal and plant species protected by regional legislation, and recovers the historical-architectural heritage as well as promotes education, scientific research, and sustainable recreational activities. The park regularly conducts educational activities, guided tours, and hosts conferences in accordance with its goal of improving the interaction between environmental systems and human settlements. The Lama Balice Park also avails itself of the collaboration of various organizations that actively operate on the territory in the field of territorial promotion, environmental education and scientific research and that manage the activities in the reference sectors. [1][3][4]
Type of NBS project
Protection of natural ecosystems
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Please specify "other parks or (semi)natural urban green area"
Protected area
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Amenities offered by the NBS
Benches and drinking water stations
Educational or biodiversity trails
Cultural (museum, concert areas)
Complementing infrastructure (bathrooms, café)
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Carbon storage/sequestration
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The park is jointly managed by three municipalities, the Municipality of Bari, the Municipality of Bitonto, and the Metropolitan City of Bari (formerly the Province of Bari) following an agreement signed in 2008 and renewed in 2013. A park administration was created in order to oversee management, consisting of the mayors from the 3 municipalities as well as shareholders, park staff, and a technical committee. [3]
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Other
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Citizens or community group
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Dissemination of information and education
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Please specify other landowner
Region of Puglia. It is protected public property.
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
Established with the Regional Law n. 15 of 05/06/2007, the Lama Balice Regional Nature Park is the first natural park that can be defined as 'urban', due to its proximity to the city centers of Bari and Bitonto. With a length of about 37 kilometers the Lama Balice Park stands in continuity with the Alta Murgia National Park, of which it shares part of the naturalistic-vegetational peculiarities and to which it has been linked to since 2012. For its management an agreement was signed in 2008 among the Municipality of Bari, the Municipality of Bitonto and the Metropolitan City of Bari (formerly the Province of Bari). This agreement was renewed on 2013. [3]
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Environmental regulation
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Lama Balice Park collaborates with organizations that actively operate on its territory: 1) Cooperativa Tracceverdi operates in the context of the upgrading of territory and the protection of local natural heritage. It manages the project 'Piccole Tracce Verdi', which gives nature tours and workshops aimed at primary and secondary school students, and organizes excursions that aim to bring the community closer to nature. 2) Art Center 89 has the aim of developing cultural and social relations within the EU framework, placing itself the task of encouraging and deepening training, and education. 3) Naturalistic Movement Pro Lama Balice, established after the fire of 2012, represents the world of volunteering for biodiversity protection. The activities of these various organizations are overseen by park administration. Additionally, the project Balice Smart Environment (BASE) was launched by a network of Apulian associations to preserve the area of Lama Balice. [3][4]
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The park collaborates with organizations whose field is in scientific research including the the BASEL-CARAMIA Research Center and the Astronomic Society of Puglia. Additionally, the volunteer movement established after the fire of 8 June 2012 has the aims of disseminating and promoting scientific knowledge.Additionally, The International Network for Natural Sciences has recently published a paper about the BASE – Balice Smart Environment – a project promoted by a network of Italian association from Apulia and supported by Foundation With The South to preserve the area of the urban park Lama Balice and encourage people to enjoy it. [3][4]
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Business models
Green health model
Urban offsetting model (biodiversity or water)
Green education model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Social
Policy innovation
Please specify social innovation
The park was created by regional legislation to protect the unique biodiversity found within the area as well as conserve its historical-architectural heritage. Since its inception, the park has engaged visitors with education, training and research activities, and sustainable recreational activities. The policy innovation of this park is seen in how it is treated as a dynamic resource that is strategic to the development of the City of Bari. The park is, on one hand, a territorial area to improve, to qualify and to characterize by arranging trails and fitted natural experiences for resident people as well as tourists; on the other hand, an ecosystem, able to act as the "green heart" of the city that serves to preserve biodiversity as well as offer recreational and health services to citizens. [1][4]
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The Lama Balice is quite different from the other Apulian (Italy) regional protected areas which are specifically and geographically isolated, in fact, gaining the morphology of “Hybrid Park.” Despite the proximity to urban areas, the park's rare biodiversity, which have disappeared elsewhere in Italy, has managed to remain within the area. Still, the park is not a wholly unique case as there are nature parks outside of the Apulian region with similar features. [4][5]

Replicability/Transferability
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
There is no mention of the park's operations and activities being replicated elsewhere. However, it has had a strong influence in urban development not just related to the planning, but also to the culture, its potential to characterize the metropolitan area through values as naturalness, biodiversity, environmental sustainability, ecology and proximity ecosystems representing the milestones of the European concept of Smart Cities. [4]
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Lowered local temperature
Enhanced carbon sequestration
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Improved stormwater management
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
Increase in protected green space areas
Increased conversion of degraded land or soil
Reduced biodiversity loss
Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
Restoration of derelict areas
Description of environmental benefits
Preserved and enhanced environmental quality and biodiversity: Lama Balice has a Mediterranean, thermophilic and xerophilic vegetation. Here they are some examples: ilex (Quercus ilex), alaternus (Rhamnus alaternus), strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), myrtle (Myrtus communis), ruscus (Ruscus aculeatus), fig (Ficus carica), Indian fig (Opuntia ficus-indica ), oleaster (Olea europaea) and almond tree (Prunus amygdalus). Lama Balice presents an elevated biodiversity about the fauna. Foxes (Vulpes vulpese) and hedgehogs (Erinaceus europacus) live stably here.
There are raptors too, such as kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), buzzards (Buteo buteo) and some species of owls (Asio otus and Athene noctua as examples). Bats (Chiroptera Blumenbach) are even considered a priority species by the European Community; they live in rocky zones (caverns and caves) (Ref. 3)
As the "green heart" of the Metropolitan City of Bari, the Park since it was set up, it has been considered as a powerful "antibody” that serves to purify air and mitigate the urban heat island effect. It also acts as an ecological corridor for plant and or animal species. The presence of the long 'lama', or deep karst gorge, in the park regulates water flow from heavy precipitation events. (Ref. 1,4,8)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved social cohesion
Improved liveability
Improved access to urban green space
Health and wellbeing
Improved physical health
Improved mental health
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
Increased awareness of flora and fauna as culturally and historically meaningful
Education
Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Description of social and cultural benefits
There are many initiatives of the park's promotion, whose aim is spreading the knowledge of the territory.
Naturalistic guided tours . It is possible to visit Lama Balice with the assistance of the staff; the paths adopted are useful to understand the geomorphological and vegetal peculiarities of the zone, with an emphasis on the local fauna.
Night guided tours . During summer, these tours are great to spot night raptors, such as owls, and the typical "Rospo smeraldino", that lives only in humid areas. In order to preserve the species, it is allowed only a limited number of visitors.
Astronomical observations. For its position, Lama Balice is ideal to look at stars; in fact we have a strong collaboration with the Astronomical Observatory that offers the opportunity to get closer to astrology thought the direct observation of stars and some interactive activities. (3)
It also focuses on environmental education activities for schools, associations, researchers and naturalists working in that area. (Ref. 1,4,8)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Water management (SDG 6)
Flood protection
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Improving mental health
Improving physical health
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
Preservation of natural heritage
Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
Promotion of cultural diversity
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of July 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Not applicable
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
The planning process for the park involved the drafting of a strategic plan document with the simultaneous launch of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) procedure and, subsequently, the preparation of the Territorial Plan, the Regulations and the Long-Term Economic and Social Plan. [8]
Link to the output of assessments
http://www.parcolamabalice.it/il-parco/piano-territoriale-del-parco/#content
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
List of references
[1] Bari - NBS for greening the urban space (n.d.). OPPLA. retrieved from https://www.oppla.eu/node/18000 (Accessed 3-7-2020)
[2] Lama Balice Regional Nature Park. (n.d.). The Official Tourism Website for Puglia. retrieved from https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/at/30/parco/104/en/Lama-Balice-Regional-Nature-Park-Bitonto-(Bari) (Accessed 3-7-2020)
[3] Park. (2015). Parco Naturale Regionale Lama Balice. retrieved from http://www.parcolamabalice.it/il-parco/ (Accessed 3-7-2020)
[4] Tarsitano, E., Colao, M., and Sinibaldi, P. (2017). Biodiversity in the urban park of Lama Balice between protection and enhancement: the BASE project. Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences. 10(4), 174-186. https://innspub.net/jbes/biodiversity-urban-park-lama-balice-protection-enhancement-base-project/ (Accessed 3-7-2020)
[5] Milone, F. and Camarda, D. (2017). Modeling Knowledge in Environmental Analysis: A New Approach to Soundscape Ecology. Sustainability, 564(9): 1-20, Available at https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/4/564/htm (Accessed 3-7-2020)
[6] DeBellis, Y., Spanò, M., Lafortezza, R., & Sanesi, G. (2015). Bari Italy (Case Study City Portrait; part of a GREEN SURGE study on urban green infrastructure planning and governance in 20 European cities) (Website not available in 2020)
Comments and notes
Public Images
Lama Balice Regional Nature Park
Lama Balice Regional Nature Park
Source: https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/at/30/parco/104/en/Lama-Balice-Regional-Nature-Park-Bitonto-(Bari)