Municipal / city level environmental plan or programme

Taru Leading Edge initiated a lake conservation project in Indore with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and Indore Municipal Corporation as part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN).
Urbanisation and the increase of impermeable surfaces reduced the capacity for groundwater recharge. The climate change risks indicate increasing rainfall variability and more intense and/or more frequent storms as well as an increase in dry periods. With less permeable soils the city needs to optimally use existing lakes to capture runoff, creating buffer supplies and helping to increase groundwater recharge. The main objective of this project was “ensuring availability of local water resources during emergencies”, through developing a replicable model for peri-urban lake rejuvenation and conservation. The expected outcomes of the project include a stakeholder-managed process for stabilising/improving the water quality of the restored lakes and generating interest among multiple stakeholders to conserve urban lakes. TARU has restored and worked on 2 water bodies, demonstrating methods and processes required to revive lakes that have co-benefits of groundwater recharge, aesthetic enhancement of the area, cool microclimate and possible livelihood restoration. The names of the lakes restored are Khajrana talab and Lasudiya Mori talab. [2, 4]

The Water Forest region covering around 250,000 hectares in the hinterland of Mexico City provides 70% of the city's urban water demand through the aquifers located below the forest. It consists of forest fragments and grasslands, encompasses four mountain ranges, and two adjacent Mexican states – Morelos and Mexico State with national parks (2). However, as native grasses are replaced by human settlements and poorly sited tree-planting projects, water available to recharge the aquifers declines and their loss contributes to flooding in densely populated urban areas downstream (1, 2). The Water Forest Initiative initiated by a non-governmental NGO aims to develop and implement "a regional conservation strategy to provide water and other ecosystem services to Mexico City (CDMX), Mexico State, and Morelos through the protection and rehabilitation of the Water Forest Area" (1 p6).

"Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) is a non-profit environmental education organization that seeks to improve both the inclusiveness of urban nature reserves and the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation by connecting nearby disadvantaged and racialized communities with municipally-owned nature reserves." (1 p15) CTEET has 3 flagship projects: providing low-cost environmental education programs to children, offering training and development to Cape Town youth to access jobs in the Green Economy and supporting and driving conservation initiatives in Cape Town through its Nature Care Fund (2).

The Nature Conservancy established the Cape Town Water Fund in 2016 using the worldwide applied water fund to enable downstream water users to invest in land conservation and restoration upstream. (4,5) In 2018, the Water Fund started its pilot project on the catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer, outside of Cape Town's boundaries on state land. The pilot project "seeks to increase water supply to Cape Town by removing invasive plant species in water catchment areas. Invasive species have been found to use significantly more water than indigenous species and uptake millions of litres of water from the catchment area annually that would otherwise be added to the city’s water supply" ( 1 p7). The intervention also supports the empowerment of marginalized communities by providing training and employment for them. As one of the main characteristics of the water fund model, various local stakeholders from all sectors are invited to develop and implement water connected challenges (1).

The City of Melbourne, through its Urban Forest Strategy, has a comprehensive plan for greening major streets and precincts, but not the smaller laneways. Across the municipality, laneways occupy a ground area of 60 hectares, with a further 150 hectares of space on the walls in these laneways (3). "The City of Melbourne has established the GYL program in 2016 with the vision to help transform the city’s smaller laneways into leafy, green and better usable spaces for the residents and other visitors to enjoy while addressing the city’s sustainability challenges." (1 p27). So far, a pilot project has been carried our including the transformation of 4 laneways: Coromandel Place, Guildford Lane, Meyers Place and Katherine Place (1,3). The intervention included an intensive planning process with the involvement of stakeholders from the private and public sectors and the creation of an interactive map of laneways ideal for greening. (1,2). The GYL program aims to address the issues of urban heat islands, climate change impacts of flood mitigation while also improving local aesthetics, amenity and creating opportunities for recreation (1).

The Urban Forest Fund (UFF) was launched in May 2017 by the City of Melbourne to provide financial support to new greening projects that otherwise would not be able to be funded. Such projects include green spaces, tree planting, vertical greening or green roofs on private land" (1 p20). The City of Melbourne has multiple strategies and programs in place to increase the quantity and quality of green space in the city. The UFF aims to support such sustainability lead initiatives by providing match-funding grants to green projects in the private realm. The UFF is a key initiative in tackling sustainability challenges in the entire city, as 75% of its land is privately owned (1)

"The Urban forest strategy (UFS) is a central part of an innovative overarching policy framework of the City of Melbourne underpinning the city's aim to create healthy ecosystems for people and nature" in the period between 2012-2040 (1 p9). The UFS outlines a scientifically-vetted long-term process to re-nature the city with a diverse selection of urban trees and open space for and with the citizens, combining elements of an eco-managerial governance arrangement with an open and reflexive co-governance approach. (1 p11). The Strategy concentrates on 6 areas to achieve its goals: canopy cover, forest diversity, vegetation health, water quality and soil moisture, urban ecology and environmental stewardship among citizens. (1)

The Climate Adaptation Strategy (CAS) was approved in 2016 and it includes various measures that aim to address various urban challenges (e.g. temperature rise, heat waves, heavy rainfalls, flooding)(Ref. 1, 2). The CAS is considered a key instrument for integrating green and blue measures in comprehensive planning.
Here, the NBS is presented with a focus on two specific measures: (Reference 1) Integration of the Urban Climate Map in urban planning, focusing on the preservation of existing air corridors/channels through open green spaces. (Reference 2) Integration of other climate adaptation measures in urban planning instruments through open green areas, community rooftop gardens, trees, and water elements. (Reference 1)

In 2014 a counselling office of the NGO Green City was established, entitled The Greening Office (Begrünungsbüro), with the objective of better engaging citizens in green adaptation measures, such as green roofs, green façades, green walls or green courtyards (Reference 1, 5). Financed by the City’s Department of Health and Environment, the project addresses climate change adaptation through greening private properties, achieved through counselling citizens and companies, with diverse outreach and networking activities. The NBS recognised the potential of the many unused private spaces, such as south-facing facades and flat roofs to better adapt to climate change across the entire city (Reference 1).

The Porto Biospots Network is a partnership of the Municipality with "Infraestruturas de Portugal", and is a network of urban forest areas (predominantly autochthonous) that aims to allow the reforestation of adjacent transit routes, major highway nodes, and routes of circulation within the city, transforming environmentally poor lands into green areas that provide multiple ecological services. This initiative foresees the reforestation of 14 areas and the planting of 10,000 trees by 2021, having already completed 2 roads, with a total of 1305 native trees planted. The biospot is the materialization of a part of the Municipal Ecological Structure of Porto. [1][4]