Biodiversity and Cities: the role of municipalities for achieving the 2010 Biodiversity Target
22 November 2007, Santiago, Chile. “Climate Change shouldn’t be considered only at the environmental level but also at the development level”, said Roberto Sanchez from the University of California during the Cities and Regions 2010 Panel in Santiago de Chile.
The Panel was carried out as part of the Seminar on Sustainable Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean developed in the Latin American Economical Commission (CEPAL). For five days, several Latin American Municipalities presented their experiences in promoting social development, urban regeneration, security and inter-sectoriality in cities.
The seminar, with a participation of 120 persons from the region, was supported and coordinated by RED (The Latin American Network for Environmental Management), CEPAL, GTZ, the Ministry of House holding of Chile, the Municipality of Curitiba and the Chilean Association of Municipalities.
Countdown 2010 gave a presentation on Biodiversity and Cities, considering the importance of biodiversity (species and ecosystems) for the cities, the role in achieving the 2010 Biodiversity Target for cities and the implementation of actions implemented by cities regarding the conservation of biodiversities.
“Cities occupy 2% of the earth surface but use around 75% of the natural resources of the whole planet” said Arturo Mora from the IUCN South America Regional Office. “We need to develop local strategies and focus not only on improving the biodiversity inside the cities but also reconsider the impact that cities have on the biodiversity elsewhere”, said Mora.
Important experiences in South American cities to conserve biodiversities were presented in the panel, like the measuring of temperature in forested areas in Sao Paulo (Brazil), the preparation of local legislation for the traffic of wild fauna species in Guayaquil (Ecuador) and the forestation initiatives in Porto Alegre (Brazil).
After the event, RED expects to include more municipalities in its network, promoting as well sustainable ways to conserve biodiversity. For Countdown 2010, this event is expected to encourage the awareness on cities about their role on the protection of biodiversity in Latin America, hoping to count on with new city partners for this initiative.
