Cities contribute to urban biodiversity

By far most people live in cities. Although cities account for just 2% of the earth’s surface, they host over half of the global human population. Cities have a critical role to play in meeting global-scale biodiversity targets. They connect human and ecological well-being and have outsized impact well-beyond their geographic borders through cultural, ecological, and economic interactions.

In our recent paper in the journal Frontiers, Scaling Biodiversity Conservation Efforts: An Examination of the Relationship Between Global Biodiversity Targets and Local Plans, we examined how 110 cities approach biodiversity conservation, and how these local efforts align with the targets set by the global Convention on Biological Diversity at their 2011 meeting in Aichi, Japan – AKA the Aichi Targets.  We compared the Aichi Targets with 44 local biodiversity plans from cities around the world.

We found that there was a great deal of overlap between global targets and local plans when it came to the importance of increasing public awareness and education, engaging the public in science and stewardship, and contributing to scientific knowledge. Global targets and local plans also the need to reduce habitat loss and to restore natural areas. There were also shared objectives when it came to the need to integrate biodiversity protection and ecosystem services into policy across a variety of departments such as parks, watershed management, and land use planning.

Local priorities also included actions that were not focal points of the Aichi targets, such as the need for cooperation between national, provincial, and local governments particularly when it comes to enforcing regulations. In other words, municipalities need more support and more integration when it comes to environmental law enforcement. Cities also mentioned the need to address human/wildlife conflicts, including managing pest species where urbanizing areas butt up against wildlife habitat. While global bodies discuss human needs, at the end of the day it is city offices getting complaints about everything from mosquitoes to bears in people’s back yards.  

A mountain lion put down in a suburban backyard, Des Moines, IA