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Index

Contenido
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Urban Biodiversity......................................................................................................................................... 3
Types of urban biodiversity ........................................................................................................................... 5
Urban planning vs. conservation .................................................................................................................. 6
Benefits of conserving urban biodiversity .................................................................................................... 6
Urban biodiversity: What is it and why is it urgently needed? ..................................................................... 7
How does urban biodiversity affect the environment? ................................................................................ 7
How does urban biodiversity affect people? ................................................................................................ 8
What are cities doing for urban biodiversity? ............................................................................................... 9
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 13
Annex .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
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Introduction
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety of life, the diversity of plant and animal
species living on a site, their genetic variability, the ecosystems of the which these species form
part and to the landscapes or regions where the ecosystems are located.
Therefore, the objective of this work is to contribute positively to a better understanding
of the importance of urban biodiversity and an improved relationship between people and the
planet, which gives sustainable cities hope for the future.
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Urban Biodiversity
What is urban biodiversity?
Urban biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of those living organisms found in a
city and the ecological systems in which they are found. At In general, it responds to a
combination of biogeographic and anthropogenic factors with a strong influence of the latter.
Biodiversity is the variety of life in a given area: the range of plants, animals and other
organisms that can be found in an ecosystem. It is a term sometimes associated with rural areas,
but it is important to remember that it also exists in cities, where animals and plants live in a
complicated balance with urban life.
The word biodiversity first appeared in the 1980s to designate the variety of life on earth.
Biodiversity is used in reference to species (plants and animals) in a region. The community of
living things in a specific area is called an ecosystem. Urban ecosystems vary from city to city.
Green spaces in cities can harbor pre-existing and new species, and harbor migratory species.
The spaces Green spaces can also have a variety of positive effects on people. A walk in a park
can reduce stress levels, improve overall health, and absorb some of carbon dioxide emissions. A
green corridor can mitigate the heat island effect and serve as a transit point for migratory birds
and pollinators.
In a recent op-ed, journalist Thomas Friedman takes readers on a walk through the global
calamities of the past 20 years and refers to them as "black elephants," a term coined by
environmentalist Adam Sweidan. A black elephant is "a cross between a black swan, an unlikely
and unexpected event with huge ramifications, and the elephant in the room, an impending
disaster that is visible to all, but no one wants to address." In the context of the COVID-19
pandemic, we all know the pathogens are out there. The health and socioeconomic crisis of the
coronavirus has shown that we do not have the right buffers to prevent a pandemic. Many of us
wonder if urban biodiversity can reduce the risks of pandemics.
Scientists disagree on this issue. Some studies have shown that there is a dilution of
biodiversity and that a higher host diversity in a region rich in biodiversity reduces the risk of
exposure to zoonotic infections spread by animals and the chain of transmission to humans. Such
an argument is used in favor of biodiversity as a general proactive strategy for disease
management. The opposing argument stresses the need for further study of the full spectrum of
disease responses to environmental changes, asserting that any proactive biodiversity policy may
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have unknown impacts on public health. Thus, it cannot be fully asserted that the biodiversity
can be a buffer against pandemics.
From images of animals reclaiming human space to the astonishing decreases in air
pollution. From the sights of empty cities to the throngs of people leaving towns before all mass
transportation stops its traffic. From the images of homeless people to all those human beings
who have continued to work in life-threatening conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has raised
levels of vulnerability and inequality, and reminded us that cities are lodged among suppressed
natural ecosystems.
While everyone is worrying about tomorrow and wondering about a new normalcy,
biodiversity appears as a soothing balm to reconnect with the natural order of life, create local
green spaces and protect our loved ones from the danger of climate change. With sometimes an
idealized embrace, many of us are left with the idea of a new social contract, involving the city
and its relationship with nature.
What would it take to make this happen? To have more green space in cities and make it
a place where everyone feels empowered to use, enjoy and maintain it, two things must happen:
1. Planning instruments and executive decisions should be established so that
green spaces are included in city designs. Basic services should be planned and infrastructure
should be built preserving designated green space, creating space where there is none. This
means that each city would need to collect data to identify their ecosystem, map corridors green
space throughout the city so that species can circulate, coordinate understory management so
that trees can grow, and manage green space as the city and needed services expand.
2. Biodiversity in cities would require the direct participation of city dwellers. If we
want green space in cities to be more than public parks and roadside trees, there must be space
available for the people can plant and care for gardens. When there is a lack of space for gardens,
we would have to rethink public spaces (e.g., vegetable gardens in the city squares). Participatory
processes and bottom-up decision making are necessary for people to see green spaces as jewels
to protect and care for.
Processes and actors are the first two things that must happen if we really want
biodiversity in our cities. The democratization of both has the potential to bring the inhabitants
of each city into a new relationship with the natural environment and thus with the city as a
whole.
As collected by Boada, Maneja and Knobel, this biodiversity includes:
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• ecological diversity, which takes into account structural and functional diversity;
• biological diversity, which counts the number of organisms and their relative
abundance;
• and genetic diversity, which counts the diversity of genomes in each species.
This urban biodiversity is a basic need of cities, without which it is impossible to achieve
a sustainable urban unfeasible to prosper as a society or to achieve the desired sustainability
(environmental, social and environmental economic). However, it is an urban area that has been
neglected for almost a century.
Even today, reports such as 'The Sustainable Development Goals in 100 Spanish cities',
which contain 85 indicators, do not contain a single one related to biodiversity.

Types of urban biodiversity

According to their presence and origin, urban biodiversity can be classified into three
groups:
• Captiva: species located in pre-urban habitats which the city, in its growth, it has
absorbed.
• Induced: derives from certain human activities that have favored species coming
from other habitats and places.
• Attracted: anthropophilic species that take advantage of resources and flows of
matter and energy.
In turn, it can form three other groups based on the biotopes present in the city:
Gray world:
Buildings
Road infrastructures
Subway systems
Streets and squares
Green world:
Rupicolous environment
Erials and solar
Roadside groves
Parks and gardens
Forestry
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Blue world:
Fountains and artificial lakes
Beaches and harbors
Rivers

Urban planning vs. conservation

Urbanism and biodiversity conservation have been considered antagonistic concepts, as
the expansion of cities is one of the main threats to biodiversity conservation on a global scale.
The increase in unnatural materials and carbon emissions, for example, make it very difficult for
animals and plants to to develop their lives.
To know whether an ecosystem is healthy and can contain a wide variety of life,
biodiversity is often used to measure its sustainability. When it comes to a city, the same criteria
can be used as when measuring a rural space. In addition, studying the urban biodiversity helps
to have data on water or air pollution.
Some green urbanism trends have introduced innovations in their constructions to
integrate nature into buildings. For example, many of these have added green roofs and living
walls to their facades. This creates cleaner air, introduce new plants into the local ecosystem and
provide a habitat for different plants. species. They also improve the appearance of buildings and
offer alternative green spaces to the more traditional ones, such as parks.

Benefits of conserving urban biodiversity

Spatial planning in a city should include the existence of abundant green areas: parks,
gardens, urban orchards and green roofs. This would help the maintenance of urban biodiversity,
which provides several benefits that can be grouped as follows:
▪ Provisioning services. Urban biodiversity provides the food, water and raw
materials and water needed by the urban population.
▪ Regulatory services. The presence of animals and plants in urban environments
has many benefits:
Improvement of the local climate and atmospheric conditions, reducing air pollution, and
air.
Plants and trees are carbon dioxide sinks, so that more carbon dioxide can be used as a
source of carbon dioxide.
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The presence of vegetation in cities also helps mitigate climate change by sequestering
and storing carbon.
Reduces noise pollution. Reduces surface runoff.
Helps prevent erosion and preserve soil fertility. It favors pollination, so necessary for
food production.
Regulates water flows.
It has great benefits for the treatment of both physical and mental illnesses.
▪ Cultural services. Greater urban biodiversity also brings another set of benefits.
social goods. Green spaces provide a more sustainable and healthy environment for recreational
and sporting activities. They also enhance social interactions, tourism, aesthetic appreciation or
the feeling of belonging to the place.

Urban biodiversity: What is it and why is it urgently needed?

Did you know that urban biodiversity makes you happier, boosts business sales and
makes children develop their cognitive abilities better, among other advantages?
Urban restoration aims to renaturalize cities to make them compatible with the nature
they have lost and which is part of humanity. Why is it so necessary?
Cities play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity, both for the preservation
itself and for the necessary ecosystem services it provides.biodiversity and vegetation lends itself
to the inhabitants of these areas. In an increasingly urban world, it is imperative to re-naturalize
our urban environments. There are no cities without nature.

How does urban biodiversity affect the environment?

If urban biodiversity is one of the greatest social demands of recent years, it is because of
its innumerable advantages for the environment. The following list, very abbreviated, shows
some of the most relevant factors.
1. Absorbs and disperses urban noise
It is estimated that biodiversity, with a focus on vegetation, helps to disperse and absorb
50 % of urban traffic noise. Moreover, it hardly takes much vegetation to achieve this. In some
places, it has been studied how to put a bit of vegetation next to
The noise on the roads is reduced and makes driving even more pleasant.
2. Mitigates the heat island effect
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Vegetation and water bodies (BGI, Blue and Green Infrastructures) are known to help
reduce urban temperature, which is very important in a scenario of urban climate change.
How do they do it? Through two mechanisms:
Vegetative shade. They prevent the sun's irradiance from reaching the ground or
buildings.
Evapotranspiration. A property of vegetation by which they emit water to the
atmosphere.
This reduces the need for air conditioning, and therefore energy, and the intensity of
heat waves. It also stabilizes the climate for other species, such as birds, insects and birds of prey.
reptiles.
3. Biodiversity calls for biodiversity
There is a lot of talk about urban resilience, and one way to achieve it is with vegetation
that fosters animal biodiversity that fosters vegetation... In this meta-study they explain how
vegetation and animal life stabilize each other, from which an important conclusion is drawn:
once the investment in green spaces is made, they are exceptionally affordable to maintain.
4. Absorb atmospheric pollutants
Due to their density, cities tend to concentrate air pollutants even when very few are
generated per inhabitant. We are all aware of the role of vegetation in trapping CO₂ from the air,
although they also filter heavy metals and suspended particles (study). They also act as an active
screen, although they do not absorb them.

How does urban biodiversity affect people?

There are also notable advantages for the local population and the ecosystem, many of
them derived from the above.
1. Invites physical activity outside the home
More vegetation and animal biodiversity encourage people to use parks and gardens for
activities. This makes the population interact more, reducing barriers demographics, and also
makes them less sedentary, positively impacting all areas of health.
2. Improving the mental health of the population
Living near parks reduces the likelihood of depression. Walking under trees on the way to
work, and listening to birdsong, reduces stress. Being exposed to 'urban nature' reduces
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symptoms of many chronic diseases. The evidence continues to accumulate in favor of

renaturalization.
3. Biodiversity improves cognitive development
Walking in green areas is associated with greater cognitive development in children,
greater intelligence and more creativity. The advantages are also observed in adults, although
they are not as extensive. It is known that everyone concentrates better when they walk through
or live next to areas rich in biodiversity. And mental fatigue is also reduced.
4. More plants: less crime and more sales
It is curious, but there is a relationship between crime and lack of vegetation. Or, in other
words same: crime shoots up when plants are missing, because it is effective in reducing violence
through psychological stabilization according to studies. The first reliable studies date back to
2001 and are brilliant. One of its immediate consequences is the improvement of local
commerce.

What are cities doing for urban biodiversity?

The hypnotic Catharijnesingel in Ultrech, before and after its renaturation. All over the
world, cities are giving space back to bodies of water. Rivers, streams, wetlands.

The canal has been returned to its original state after being replaced in 1969 by a large
freeway, reclaiming the space for recreational and sporting use by the city's inhabitants. Carried
out in two phases completed in 2015 and 2020, the nearly 6-kilometer-long Catharijnesingel
restoration is included in one of the largest and most complex projects in the Netherlands, the
redevelopment of the Utrecht Central Station area.
For the restoration of the Catharijnesingel, the OKRA studio has reorganized motorized
traffic by giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists. The vegetation of this new linear park along
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its banks connects with the existing Zocherpark. It is an intervention that enhances public space
and biodiversity, and brings back water, nature and the memory of the historical heritage of the
city.

News in Paraguay

WWF-Paraguay urges to work on biodiversity recovery

The serious loss of biodiversity worldwide, requires as a concrete action to work together
in the conservation and repair of the forest landscape and all biodiversity. In this sense, WWF-
Paraguay has declared 2021-2030 as the decade of Restoration, so it urges all its partners,
members, volunteers, collaborators to commit to work towards this goal.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has been working for 60 years in more than 100
countries around the world and is one of the largest conservation organizations in the world.
international nature conservation organizations. In Paraguay, it was founded on April 4, 2000,
and on its 22nd anniversary, WWF-Paraguay finds the organization with numerous challenges in
the face of the serious loss of biodiversity.
"In Paraguay, WWF works with the vision of maintaining the integrity of landscapes and
the protection of biodiversity by promoting sustainable production models together with society
and stimulating ownership and equity among producers, government and communities," said
Oscar Rodas, director of Climate Change and Policy at WWF Paraguay.
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On the positive points and shortcomings today with respect to environmental care, he
said that something positive is that organized civil society has multiplied, demanding
environmental justice and equal opportunities, and young people have become agents of change
and are no longer passive observers of how the country develops. In addition, companies and
corporations have incorporated the concept of protecting the environment, free of pollution.
He added that Paraguay still has a long way to go as there is still a long way to go. The
deforestation in the Eastern Region is significant in spite of the Zero Deforestation Law for that
region. Mechanized agriculture is observed right up to the communities, roads, and waterways.
In addition to all this, there is the dynamics of real estate and marijuana plantations in protected
wildlife areas.
ACTIONS IN PARAGUAY
"Some of the most recent important achievements in Paraguay include the extension of
Law 6256 (Zero Deforestation Law), which expired on December 14, 2020, following the
advocacy of a coalition called #PorLosBosques, made up of more than 60 CSOs, mostly
environmental, social and health organizations in conjunction with state institutions," he
celebrated.
This law will be in force for another 10 years. Likewise, WWF-Paraguay is promoting the
implementation of the Urban and Territorial Management Plans (POUT) in the Chaco, working in
a participatory and multisectoral manner with State agencies. (governorships and municipalities),
as well as with members of civil society, explained Rodas.
Another important contribution of WWF-Paraguay over the years has been the
publication of manuals, reports, guides and atlases on a variety of topics related to the
conservation, science and sustainable development of the country, available free of charge on
the page organization's website. It has made the presentation of the first report on Human Rights
and Environment to the United Nations, within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review.
It has collaborated in the promotion of the culture
of indigenous communities of the Chaco, such as
the Yshyr of Bahía Negra and the Ayoreos of Fuerte
Olimpo.
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Conclusion
Urban biodiversity is a topic that should be treated more frequently to obtain interest
from the citizen since we have to contribute to its conservation. Nowadays, there is an increase
of the urban population in the world because people are generally looking for a better quality of
life but living in a city does not mean the same for everyone... Why? There are sectors where the
characteristic development of the urban world does not reach, due to poor planning and the
inability to receive a large number of people.
(insufficient infrastructure, lack of resources and poor distribution of resources).
It is time for science and technology to be at the service of development, this can
generate sustainable jobs throughout the country as it can ensure the care of our ecosystems.
Environmental services can depend on them to guarantee development and quality of life.
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Bibliography
Aqua e fundacion: https://www.fundacionaquae.org/wiki/biodiversidad-urbana/
IDB Improving Lives: https://blogs.iadb.org/ciudades-sostenibles/es/biodiversidad-
ecosistemas-urbanos-entornos-naturales-construidos-relacion-ciudad-covid19-coronavirus/
Blog Ferrovial: https://blog.ferrovial.com/es/2022/07/biodiversidad-urbana-que-es-por-
what-you-need/
Arquitectura Viva: https://arquitecturaviva.com/obras/recuperacion-del-canal-
catharijnesingel-en-utrecht
Eurasian Jay: https://acortar.link/3CAtH2 ; European Robin ( https://acortar.link/nSSZTk );
House Sparrow ( https://acortar.link/DzGUrX ).
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Annex