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Biodiversity & Nature-Based Solutions
In its current form, urbanisation and the lifestyle of city populations is rapidly depleting biodiversity, as well as public and private green spaces. To create a healthy living environment and to be sustainable, urban development must preserve biodiversity by safeguarding and developing multi-functional and connected green spaces in cities. Green spaces and their ecosystems can act as a nature-based solution to tackle societal, economic, and environmental challenges. ICLEI is a long-term advocate of the importance of urban biodiversity and green spaces and supports local governments in maintaining and encouraging it. By working with cities to implement nature-based solutions, ICLEI also helps them to improve their resilience and create a cohesive urban society.
Urban sprawl is rapidly depleting biodiversity and degrading natural ecosystems, while poor land-use planning is resulting in social and economic issues within and around cities.
In order to create a healthy environment to live and work in, local governments must reconcile their development ambitions with nature by integrating multi-functional, biodiverse and interconnected green and blue spaces in their cities. These can act as Nature-based Solutions (NBS), tackling challenges such as poor air quality, vulnerability to climate change-related risks like flooding or heat waves, deteriorating health of citizens, and bringing urban communities closer together. As a long-term advocate of the importance of urban biodiversity and green spaces, ICLEI Europe supports local governments in embedding NBS into policies and planning processes. By working with cities to implement NBS and promote biodiversity, ICLEI Europe also helps them to reduce the impacts of climate change, thus creating a cohesive urban society and nature-positive economy.
ICLEI Europe`s global flagship programme Urban By Nature, and European resource centre NetworkNature are two of the flagship initiatives designed to support local, regional and international cooperation to maximise the impact and spread of nature-based solutions.