Local Action on Biodiversity connects cities from all continents
17 October 2007, Zagreb, Croatia. Twenty cities representing 54 million citizen create and implement 10-year Biodiversity Action Plans. This week saw the first workshop of the project ‘Local Action for Biodiversity’ (LAB) that brings them together, taking place in Zagreb from October 15-17.
The participants and contributions were as diverse as a tropical rainforest, but connected through the joint specific challenges of – and solutions for – urban biodiversity and the general role of cities in nature conservation.
The importance of urban biodiversity increases constantly given that 2007 is the first year where more people live in urban than in rural areas. “Cities occupy just 2% of the surface area of the planet, but absorb a staggering 75% of the World’s natural resources”, said Sebastian Winkler, Head Countdown 2010. “The struggle for biodiversity will be won in the cities,” continued Winkler. “Through LAB, cities will be able to access a range of tools, developed to assist cities in planning and implementation for biodiversity.” Susanna Nolden of the city of Bonn, host of the Convention for Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties in May 2008, emphasized: “LAB offers a diversity of local government experiences to serve biodiversity”.
The City of Zagreb – member of the LAB project and host of this first meeting – joined Countdown 2010 during the workshop. Deputy Mayor Ljiljana Kuhta Jeličić signed the Countdown 2010 declaration in presence of the workshop participants in the Dverce-Palace. “This is a very emotional moment for me” she said “and it shows that Zagreb is living up to its responsibilities towards its nature and citizens”. Through the city’s commitments to the LAB project – which are also the basis for Zagreb’s commitments towards the 2010 biodiversity target – the city will particularly focus on programs to collaborate with private landowners on biodiversity, projects aiming at the eradication of invasive species and the restoration of degraded areas.
LAB is a pilot project managed by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and running from 2006 to 2009. Participating cities have to, among others, develop reports on the respective biodiversity status, draft and implement a 10-year Biodiversity Action Plan and carry out 5 new and tangible biodiversity interventions in the course of the project. The project supports participating cities with two workshops where representatives have the possibility to exchange experiences and best practices, and a ‘toolkit’ of successful urban biodiversity instruments (case studies, guidelines etc.). The workshop delegates from local governments discussed issues ranging from invasive species to funding issues and possibilities to better engage citizens into nature conservation together with the ICLEI and Countdown 2010 teams. Countdown 2010 is a LAB project partner and part of the project’s steering committee.
The LAB project will lay the foundations for an expanded ICLEI biodiversity initiative. Within the last two years, the cooperation between IUCN/Countdown 2010 and ICLEI has constantly grown, through the LAB and Countdown 2010’s LARA 2010 projects (‘Local and Regional Authorities for Biodiversity 2010’). A Memorandum of Understanding has recently been signed between the organizations and will strengthen future collaborations.
LAB is the first project in the world to bring together local governments from all continents around the cities and biodiversity theme. LAB was pioneered by the Cities of Cape Town and eThekwini in South Africa, two of the cities which attended the meeting. The other cities, represented by both politicians and technical officials, were Sao Paolo, King County (Seattle), Edmonton (Canada), Ile-de-France (Paris), Barcelona, Johannesburg, Seoul, Liverpool Council (Sydney), Leicester, Waitekere (Auckland), Joondalup (Perth), Tilburg, Ekhuraleni, Walvis Bay, Nagoya and Amsterdam.
