Habitat and biodiversity conservation

In anticipation of the organisation of the 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, the Sidi Mohammed Benabdellah University (USMBA) of Fez has launched an operation to plant 1,000 trees of different species. This intervention was part of a series of scientific, cultural, artistic, sporting and environmental actions undertaken by the University for the Climate, with the cooperation of other partners. Students and faculty as well as NGO representatives were present and implemented the action which ultimately led to the creation of green areas within the campus and around the faculties and universities. Founded in 1975, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University is named for a 18th century Sultan of Morocco, the nation in which the university is based. The main campus is located in the northern city of Fez, a World Heritage Site and historically the last stop on the famous gold trading route from Timbuktu. (1)

Santalaia is a high-end, multi-family residential building located in the heart of downtown Bogota, Colombia. Santalaia is often referred to as "the green heart of Bogota" and is seen as an icon of sustainability [1]. The 11-story building was completed in 2015 and all eleven floors are engulfed in many species of plant wildlife to encourage biodiversity. There are 115,000 native plants of 10 different species covering a total area of 3117 m² [2,3].
The plants included on the exterior of the building rely on a hydroponic system and provide a model of how to increase green zones in urban areas. A vertical garden of this size provides natural beauty in the middle of concrete Bogota while mitigating the carbon footprint of more than 700 people. An additional benefit of Santalaia’s vertical garden is that the plants create a “green carpet” that serve as insulation and reduce the use of air conditioners, an increasingly valuable contribution during times of rising temperatures due to climate change [5,6].

The Wuqing District of Tianjin is a rapidly developing suburban district, northwest of the city core, containing 4 larger 5 smaller rivers, 5 water reservoirs, Wetland area that partially protected by the DaHuangPu Nature Reserve, the Jinbei Forest Park, several public parks, greenery near buildings, green roofs and vegetation along roads. A spike in population growth going from 130.000 in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2018 brought the need for wide urban development where the district focused on implementing blue and green infrastructures (1). "The urbanized area of the district is reported to meet the requirements of the national ‘Garden City’ standard with over 36% green coverage, currently aiming to achieve 45% on the long run, and was selected as a pilot national ecological demonstration area for green urban development in 2014. Since 2014, over 500 million EUR was invested into blue and green infrastructure projects (1 p26). The three flagship projects evaluated here are 1) the South Lake (Nanhu) Area that combines business, recreational, residential, and ecological development around in a waterside area, 2) the North Canal Suburban Park which is a recreational, entertainment and wetland area on 2.53 km2 where over 72.000 trees were planted in recent years, 3) and the 400 meter wide, multi-functional green corridor running along the Cuiheng Road (1).

In November 2019 the municipality of Hammam Sousse alongside one of the local schools initiated a climate intervention by planting trees next to the banks of the river Oued El Hammam. The municipality of Hammam Sousse is located in the central-eastern part of Tunisia (Sahel region), and as a coastal city, it enjoys a warm Mediterranean climate with a dry summer. The Mediterranean region is ranked among the regions which are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the intervention focused on implementing solutions to mitigate these effects. (1,2)

A greening project in Laval aimed to replace impermeable surfaces such as asphalt with vegetation. This process would allow water to infiltrate the soil on a surface area of 3000 square meters and plant 7200 plants on land located near or inside urban heat island zones of the city (Ref. 1,2,3,7). The project takes an integrated approach to mitigate the impact of urban heat islands, which make up 12-13% of the territory in Laval (Ref. 1,7). Particular focus of this project is placed on planting on sites of vulnerable communities (Ref. 1,3).

Since 2008, the City of Portland, Oregon has used various policies and programming to encourage the use of eco-roofs (vegetated roofs) throughout the city to address stormwater management (Ref. 2,3,4). In addition to stormwater management, eco-roofs have the benefits of: saving energy, reducing pollution and erosion in waterways, preserving fish habitats, creating new habitats for birds and insects, absorbing carbon dioxide, cooling urban heat islands, filtering air pollutants, and providing urban green space (Ref. 1,5). From 2008 to 2012, the City of Portland used the Ecoroof Incentive program to encourage property owners and developers to construct ecoroofs (Ref. 4,5,12). In 2018, the City of Portland adopted a mandate for ecoroofs in new buildings (Ref. 2,3,12). These policies and programs led to a growing interest in the use of ecoroofs, and resulted in the construction of over 130 ecoroofs (Ref. 3,4,11).

The green belt was created not only as an aesthetic element but also to serve as the lungs of the city. The forest planting works around Nur-Sultan have been carried out since 1997 [6, 7]. The area of ​​the green belt of Nur-Sultan is 100 thousand hectares, of which 15 thousand hectares are planted within the city limits. The main idea of the project was to provide comfortable conditions for the residents of Nur-Sultan city, which would serve as a mechanism for improving air quality, mitigating climate and as a natural barrier to protect the city from dust winds and snowstorms [2, 4, 5, 6, 7]. An important aspect that was taken into consideration are the animal species of the forest, as the territory of the green belt is inhabited by foxes, hares, corsacs, white and grey partridges, roe deer, wild boars, etc [1, 2, 7, 8]. The primary importance of biodiversity efforts is assigned to the breeding of birds, especially pheasants [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], as pheasants are an element of local cultural heritage, and on the territory of the green belt, traditions and cultural events related with the pheasants are organised every year [2, 4]. The young forest should turn into an improved recreation area, a favourite pastime for city residents at any time of the year [2,7].

Ensuring that Ivorians, from an early age, pay attention to the environment, it is one of the Ivorian government’s many environmental objectives. As such, in 2019, the Ministry of Water and Forests initiated a project in the Mamie Fêtai Highschool of the city of Bingerville. The initiative is part of a bigger project that aims at raising awareness and tries to engage the Ivorian school in the recovery of the forest cover of the country. Ivory Coast is a delicate case in West Africa, from a forestry point of view. Since 1960 the country lost more than 80 percent of its forests, mainly to cocoa production and agricultural practices (1,3)

The 'Step Garden' is a 14-tier green roof atop the Asian Cross Roads Over the Sea (ACROS) Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall in Fukuoka, Japan (Ref. 2). The Hall itself is a centre of international, cultural and information exchange, and sits amidst the Tenjin Central Park (Ref. 3). As the building displaced a plaza, the architect, Emilio Ambasz, created the “image of a mountain" through the design and installation of the roof terrace (Ref. 2), "want[ing] to give back to Fukuoka’s citizens all the land the building would subtract from the city" (Ref. 3). In combination with the Central Park, the rooftop garden is considered to be the only open green space in the city centre (Ref. 4), and since its inauguration in 1995, has been open to the public, accessible via two entrances on the park side of the building (Ref. 1).

The Million Trees project was a programme launched by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff in 2017 to plant a million predominantly native trees and shrubs over a period of three years (Ref. 1,2,3,4). It aimed to make Auckland a greener, more beautiful place while creating carbon sinks, protecting the city’s waterways and improving the city’s living environment (Ref. 2,4). The programme engaged a variety of actors in the planting activities, including local boards, iwi, schools, service and social sector groups, private entities, the council group, the New Zealand Transport Association (Ref. 1). Particularly notable partnerships included those with the Department of Corrections and the Trees that Count Trust (Ref. 2,4,6).
The initial goal was met in 2019, and the project has been renewed for 2019-2022 (Ref. 1,7).