Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Cities could be wildlife refuges of the future

A cream colored skunk in my backyard last October.  Until seeing that skunk, I had no idea that there are skunks not colored black.

according to an op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor by Madhusudan Katti, contributor to the volume Cities and Biodiversity Outlook.

-- Cities and Biodiversity Action and Policy: a policy report that aims to guide decision-makers, planners and experts on sustainable urban development trajectories.

Key Messages

1. Urbanization is both a challenge and an opportunity to manage ecosystem services globally

2. Rich biodiversity can exist in cities

3. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are critical natural capital

4. Maintaining functioning urban ecosystems can significantly enhance human health and well-being

5. Urban ecosystem services and biodiversity can help contribute to climate-change mitigation and adaptation

6. Increasing the biodiversity of urban food systems can enhance food and nutrition security

7. Ecosystem services must be integrated in urban policy and planning

8. Successful management of biodiversity and ecosystem services must be based on multi-scale, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder involvement

9. Cities offer unique opportunities for learning and education about a resilient and sustainable future

10. Cities have a large potential to generate innovations and governance tools and therefore can—and must—take the lead in sustainable development

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3 Comments:

At 10:29 AM, Anonymous rg said...

The skunk photo is very cool! I see an opossum in our back yard all the time. (Maybe more than one?) I also see beavers along the Anacostia bike trail pretty regularly. And, I was just told that Congressional Cemetery across the street is home to a few foxes.

 
At 9:29 AM, Blogger Gull said...

Cities can have a lot of biodiversity, but they also can become over-run areas of nothing but non-native invasive plant and animal species that were introduced by people in their private gardens. For the city to be a true wildlife refuge it would take a ton of hands on work to constantly maintain the 'natural like' environment.

 
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