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Planning for the future of urban biodiversity: A global review of city-scale initiatives.

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mark Goddard

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Abstract

Cities represent considerable opportunities for forwarding global biodiversity and sustainability goals. We developed key attributes for conserving biodiversity and for ecosystem services that should be included in urban-planning documents and reviewed 135 plans from 40 cities globally. The most common attributes in city plans were goals for habitat conservation, air and water quality, cultural ecosystem services, and ecological connectivity. Few plans included quantitative targets. This lack of measurable targets may render plans unsuccessful for an actionable approach to local biodiversity conservation. Although most cities include both biodiversity and ecosystem services, each city tends to focus on one or the other. Comprehensive planning for biodiversity should include the full range of attributes identified, but few cities do this, and the majority that do are mandated by local, regional, or federal governments to plan specifically for biodiversity conservation. This research provides planning recommendations for protecting urban biodiversity based on ecological knowledge.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Nilon CH, Aronson MFJ, Cilliers S, Dobbs C, Frazee L, Goddard MA, Roberts D, Stander E, O'Neill K, Werner P, Winter M, Yocom K

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: BioScience

Year: 2017

Volume: 67

Issue: 4

Pages: 332-342

Print publication date: 01/04/2017

Online publication date: 15/03/2017

Acceptance date: 15/03/2017

ISSN (print): 2152-7296

ISSN (electronic): 2152-730X

Publisher: Scientific Research Publishing, Inc.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix012

DOI: 10.1093/biosci/bix012

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