Habitat and biodiversity conservation

Situated next to Bebington railway station, the site is of biological importance within Wirral. This urban nature reserve was developed on a former railway sidings and is now an oasis of green tranquility in densely populated urban area; its industrial past has been put to good use as a home for wildlife (e.g. on the thin, nutrient there are now carpets of wild flowers, including wild carrot & occasional bee orchids). Up to 26 species of butterfly have been recorded here, with 18 species breeding on site - giving the park its rather apt name. (Ref. 1, 2)

New Ferry Butterfly Park has been awarded a Green Flag for the seventh year, which signifies that the space boasts the "highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities". (Ref. 12)

The Oriental Park of the City of Porto is an urban natural park designed by the landscape architect Sidónio Pardal. It will be one of the largest urban parks in the country and the second-largest in the city of Porto. This NBS focused on the transformation of a derelict, depressed urban area into a green space. The first part of the park was inaugurated in July 2010 and the municipality has plans to build it through several phases over the next decade until it reaches its project area. (1)

The Haumanngarten is a community garden in Essen founded by the Transition Town movement (Ref. 1). Since May 2015 a mixed group have been growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and berries on a former playground. Fellow gardeners with and without knowledge of gardening participate in the garden (Ref. 2).

The aim of the project is to restore the near-natural state of the Alster, the neighboring floodplains and side waters and thus support biodiversity, the recreational function of the riversides and promote environmental education (Reference 1). The implementation of the project began in 2012 and is planned to continue until 2021. It’s second phase started in 2018, which focuses on redeveloping the inner-city areas of the Alster. (Reference 8) The developers of the project focus on improving biodiversity and habitats. Recent nature conservation efforts included the installation of bee hotels, installation of gravel depots where fish lay eggs and the building of three fish ladders at the Poppenbüttler, Mellingburger and Wohldorfer locks, so that salmon, sea trout and sticklebacks can migrate there again. (Reference 6) In the future, other biotope structures in the urban river environment are to be improved. The project also provides opportunities for voluntary work and educational field trips for schoolchildren. (Reference 9)

An old hippodrome will be transformed into a natural urban park. "The Metropole of Rouen has launched this reconversion project of in consultation with residents and associations. It is the Mutabilis group that has been chosen to carry out this transformation, the first work of which will begin in 2017. The project, called "Champ Libre", integrates all the components essential to urban life: a place of discovery, nature and innovative agriculture" (Ref. 6).

The Chartreuse Park has been chosen as a pilot site for the EU-funded VALUE project, enabling the City of Liège to finance and pilot a participatory requalification process for the Chartreuse Park. Since the acquisition of the site (about 20 hectares of park and green spaces), the City has taken several steps to recognize the historical and environmental potentialities of the Park and to integrate its values in the operations for the urban development of this old military site (the Fort de la Chartreuse). As a result of broad consultation with citizens, between 2012 and 2014, three circular walkways were created in the park connected to each other, enabling greater access to the park (Ref. 1).

A botanical garden in a forest was created owing to the cooperation of Gdansk Forest District with the city of Gdynia and the University of Gdansk. It consists of 27 thematic collections, covering ca. 50 ha, and adjacent forest phytocoenoses. The garden is specialized in showcasing trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants of the nemoral and boreal zone, particularly species indigenous for the Pomorze Gdanskie region. The garden protects a collection of species endangered and rare in the region and protected by law, as well as an orchard of old forms of fruit trees and shrubs [1,3].
The initial works have been completed, but greenery planting and further investments in the garden are ongoing. The botanical garden is a long-term undertaking and many plants were planted long before the construction began and the garden will "grow" up to 20 years [5].

Tondiraba is a green urban area located in Lasnamäe, it is a valuable area with a diverse landscape which at the start of the initiative was severely overgrown and randomly used. The city planned to build an eco-golf course where the diverse and species-rich landscape and protected species are preserved. The architecture of the golf course is based on the advantages of the natural location and an ‘eco-golf course' concept. These landscapes and their flora were generated with landscape maintenance methods, which results in ‘micro-communities’ in which the ecosystems characteristic of the given area would start developing (ref 1, 5).

The Strasbourg Grandeur Nature Plan is engineered by Strasbourg Metropole and is focused on optimising the actions and resources and resources of local authorities in the maintenance of local biodiversity and improving the living environment (Ref. 7). It combines with local associations and citizens through organising interfaces (e.g. workshops, online tools) that allow relevant local authorities to engage with local projects and make interventions on the basis of proposals made by the community. The project aims at improving the maintenance and development of green spaces and biodiversity due to the environmental issues surrounding urban sprawls (Ref. 4).

The main problem of Lake Ülemiste is high phytoplankton biomass, which increases the cost of water treatment (ref 1). Improving the water quality of Lake Ülemiste by biomanipulation has been considered as a management alternative. Lake Ülemiste was bio-remediated after reduction of external loading and the shifts in water quality were studied during the active-phase of the measure. (ref 1). Tallinn obtains 88% of the water it needs from Lake Ülemiste. Pine forest in the sanitary protection zone surrounding Lake Ülemiste offers several ecosystem services that help to improve the quality of the city’s drinking water (ref 4).