Achieved impacts

Bayangol park is located in the Bayangol district of Ulaanbaatar along the Tuul riverside. The "Bayangol Agropark" was originally established in 2014 under the administration of the Assembly of Citizens' Representatives of Bayangol District. Later, in 2021, it was renamed "Bayangol Park", and the park activities were expanded. The 50-hectare area along the Tuul river basin is expected to develop into an eco-park where people can enjoy their free time in a safe and welcoming atmosphere. Since its opening, over 16000 trees have been planted in this park as part of the nationwide "One billion trees" movement, which aims to lessen the impact of climate change, decrease desertification, protect forests and water resources, and increase employment. As the second-largest park in the capital city, the park also provides opportunities for sports and culture. (Ref. 1, 2, 4)

Food safety has come a long way and today it is one of the biggest challenges globally, especially in the developing world. According to the World Bank, Viet Nam is one of the countries prone to food-borne illnesses and food safety is a major concern for the public there (1). Increased droughts, floods and salinization have further enhanced and endangered food supplies. Access to healthy food is not optimal. To solve this issue, some Vietnamese private companies came up with a solution. In 2013, a shoe factory in the city of Dongnai (located around 30 km away from Ho Chi Minh City) established a welfare facility for the factory's employees, called Farming Kindergarten. The building was designed with the idea of serving 700 children of the workers by providing healthy food, as well as environmental education. The design includes a green roof where vegetables are cultivated alongside playgrounds for the children. The roof is designed in such a way that it is the perfect environment where children learn about the importance of agriculture and strengthen their connection with nature (2, 4, 6). The harvests from the garden are distributed to the children's families, contributing to a rather small family budget of Vietnamese workers (the average income of Vietnamese workers is just 180 USD per month) (7).

Pirojshanagar Township is an industrial and residential establishment of the company Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co Ltd (G&B), located in the Vikhroli suburb of Mumbai city along Thane creek, with diverse natural and human-made habitats (1,2). Of the 16 km2 area of the Township, approximately 12 km2 is occupied by the mangrove ecosystem and its associated habitats (1,2). Upon recognizing the importance of this ecosystem, G&B decided to prioritize the conservation of the mangroves that grew along the banks of the newly acquired land (along the Thane Creek west bank) (1,2). Pirojshanagar, with its biodiverse mangrove forest, is sandwiched between two solid waste dumping grounds of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which only increases its importance in the landscape and makes it a green oasis that acts as a carbon sink (1). It was a research-based project and the first successful mangrove conservation project in Mumbai, now serving as the Mumbai Metropolitan's green lung (1,2).

Benchakitti Forest Park was created as the extension of the existing Benchakitti Water Park, which is located near the central business district of Bangkok, Thailand. The Forest Park is built in an old Thai Tobacco Factory area. The main concept of the park is to bring the forest into the city and support urban biodiversity while offering leisure activities for the people. The main features in this project include constructed wetlands, nature learning and exercise trails (for running and bicycling), a learning centre, an urban farming area and multipurpose open space for gathering and event activities. Benchakitti Forest Park can be divided into 2 parts. The first part is a green outdoor area including the wetlands, all trails and an outdoor amphitheatre. This first part was completed and open to the public in 2022. The second part is the renovation of buildings into museums and the creation of an urban farm and other facilities associated with the building. This second part is still under construction. (Ref. 1,2,3)

This project aims to create a Butterfly corridor through the city of New Delhi by connecting local parks, residential gardens, biodiversity parks, and major forest areas (Ref 1, 2). For this, various locations, mainly maintained by citizens, are developed as habitats for the butterflies by planting various kinds of host plants which can be used to lay eggs. Overall, about 100 butterfly corridors are planned to be developed over time (Ref 3). The project is initiated by the Conservation Education Centre (CEC), a Delhi-based faction of the Bombay Natural History Society. With the help of CEC, community custodians of the gardens are trained to develop butterfly parks. A number of public and private land areas have now been designed as butterfly corridors throughout the city (Ref 1).
An underlying aim of the project is to allow butterflies to travel across locations, thus allowing genetic diversity among populations (Ref 1). The project has also helped educate the community about the importance of maintaining a healthy butterfly population. Through the organization of Butterfly month in September every year, citizens and, especially young kids, are encouraged to learn about butterflies through butterfly walks, counting, and photography contests, among other activities (Ref 1, 5).

To build "[a] airport in the forest, and [a] forest in the airport", a Jungle Broadwalk was created inside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) between 2004 and 2009. KLIA is one of the world's largest airport sites, spanning over 100 square kilometres of land, and it is located in the Malaysian state of Selangor. The Jungle Boardwalk is a miniature tropical rainforest, recreated inside the airport grounds between the main terminal building and the contact pier, and in the central garden in the centre of each satellite building. Though the airport is functioning since 1998, the Jungle Boardwalk was implemented only in 2004 and is home to 3,660 trees of more than 39 species, serving almost 14 mils. passengers every year. The mini forest is home to an impressive variety of trees such as the Medang, Kelat, Tukas and Penaga lilin trees that are indigenous to Malaysia.
The intervention provides many benefits such as a cooling temperature level inside the airport, a space for passengers to decompress, and an exploration of the relationship between nature and humans. This project creates a miniature Indonesian rainforest inside the airport to keep alive the heritage of the country's nature. The implementer had in mind "the vision to share a piece of Mother Nature’s tropical heritage with our passengers through the refreshing experience of walking through our natural forest reserve.” This and the fact that the airport is Green Globe Certified makes the intervention unique. (1,2,3,4)

In 2016 the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), one of the municipal local government authorities of Dhaka initiated a plan to revitalise 19 of the city’s parks and 12 playgrounds. One of them is Rasulbag Shishu Park, previously a derelict area surrounded by residential tower blocks, tiny shops and street market stalls. Besides reconditioning a derelict area, DSCC considered it of utmost importance to address some environmental and planning aspects. One of them is the fact that Dhaka is located in a region severely exposed to flooding during the rainy seasons. Poor planning of the city, with narrow alleyways, which have no proper drainage, contributes greatly to transforming streets into rivers. As such, in 2018 DSCC started redesigning the area, counting on a participatory approach throughout the community. No trees were taken down throughout the entire process; all other already-existing trees in the park were included in the design. Most of the native shrubs and trees make up the rows of orchards that line the park's perimeter, disguising its crumbling walls and softly merging them into its surroundings. To establish an environmentally friendly and aesthetically beautiful boundary, various plants, including flowers and fruit trees, have been planted around the park's furthest edges. It was expected that the intervention would revitalize a sense of community in an already failed public space. (Ref 1, 2, 6)

Pakistan's first vertical farm was developed in the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate in Karachi, on a previous yarn factory. The owner had a background in environmentally friendly and futuristic plant growth technologies and wanted to convert them into a business model. And since "urban agriculture is immune to the constraints of climate", and the country has suffered a decrease in agriculture labour resources and land fragmentation, Sindh Industrial Trading Estate launched vertical farming practices as a business solution. (Ref: 1,5).
In 2016, the owners set up a 60 ft room on the top floor of the old yarn factory into a futuristic farm by using hydroponic techniques to grow kale, rosemary and dozens of other vegetables under the purple glow of LED lights. Later on, the first floor of the factory was converted for vertical farming (Ref: 1). The project is a commercial venture, with agricultural products sold to the finest restaurants and supermarkets in the city. These eco-friendly practices ensure vegetable growth with maximum nutrients and require 90% less water as compared to traditional farming. (Ref: 1, 2)

Neknampur Lake, also known as Ibrahim Bagh Cheruvu, located in Hyderabad, Telangana State of India, has historical importance and was part of a water reservoir network for irrigation and drinking as well as an inalienable part of the rural ecology of the village (1,2). Due to urbanization, the lake underwent drastic changes in ecology, land use and management in the past decade. Scientific investigations conducted by the Telangana State Biodiversity Board on Neknampur Lake highlighted that the water body was full of sludge and extremely eutrophicated, showing elevated algal growth (2). This was mainly because of the unabated entry of sewage and other waste over an extended period into the lake (1,2). In June 2016, The NGO named 'Dhruvansh' decided to adopt Neknampur Lake and thus began a series of interventions that incorporated bioremediation and phytoremediation techniques, regular cleanup drives of plastic removal and recycling campaigns into a restoration plan for the lake (1,2). With the support of the government institutions, 'Dhruvansh' began the revival of the lake across two phases: (1) the revival of the lake periphery and the lake body, followed by (2) the revival of the lake ecosystem (1,2). The ecological restoration of Neknampur Lake has improved the ecological services it provides and restores the glory of this historically significant lake, now known as a biodiversity hotspot (1,2,3,4).

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is a private research university located in the main residential area of Lahore City and is spread over a 100-acre area and hosts various plant and bird species. The Life Sciences Department of LUMS collaborated with the Botany Department at the Government College University to plant some rare species of endangered trees at LUMS. The project aims to preserve the ecosystem on the LUMS campus and develop an inventory of plants and animals commonly found on the campus. Taxonomic expertise and the modern science of DNA sequencing are used in the analysis and identification of plants. Additionally, LUMS aims to be the first University in Pakistan to set up a national biosurveillance system that would track biodiversity at all documented sites with their GPS coordinates across the whole campus. It envisions creating knowledge and awareness about the importance of the diverse biodiversity found on campus. It will enhance the effective management of present resources to preserve them for future generations. These findings may potentially serve numerous disciplines from other departments and also increase information and effective management of wildlife on campus. (Ref: 1, 2, 3)