What we are doing
Nature provides wide ranging benefits and essential services. Unfortunately, current development patterns are straining and displacing natural systems across the world, often to such an extent that nature cannot fully recover and weakening the ecosystems upon which human welfare and livelihoods depend. This trend is intensified in cities with rapid urban expansion patterns. These are often the same cities where the remaining biodiversity is of high value, not only for the cities themselves, but also for their surrounding regions.
Cities depend on nature for essential services like water purification, flood control, climate regulation, food security and clean air. Destruction of nature affects human health and well-being, limits opportunities for economic growth and social development, reduces cities’ resilience to climate change and lead to the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. To overcome these challenges, particularly at the local and subnational government level, multi-level governance, vertical integration and innovative methods are needed to mainstream biodiversity across city-region planning systems. This approach facilitates opportunities for nature-based solutions with gains for both biodiversity and our urban communities.
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How we are tracking
For each project country:
1 Scoping study;
1 Improved sub-national Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan that includes at least 8 NBSAP priority areas;
1 Multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder forum in the model city region;
Mapping and assessment of the existing and potential financing instruments and mechanisms that support local biodiversity actions;
Financial instrument Testing: Support the model city in the development of 1 project that implements the NBSAPs on a local level. This includes supporting the project preparation, identification of appropriate financing instruments, and linkages to potential funding agencies;
4 dialogues between the national and sub-national actors on biodiversity and reports documenting each one of them;
1 National Guideline Package to bridge the gap between NBSAP commitments and local biodiversity actions;
1 training event on project preparation for accessing finance for biodiversity actions for the staff of the model city;
At least 1 report on the local commitments and actions of the model city is made public through the CitiesWithNature Platform;
Support the organization of the North-South and South-South peer learning and exchanges and ensure that Chinese project and other cities participate in these events.
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What we are achieving
The project enables governments at all levels – from local to national – to integrate their efforts for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services into core subnational government functions such as spatial planning, land-use management, local economic development and infrastructure design. It further supports city-regions to understand and unlock, within their specific local context, the potential of nature to provide essential services and new or enhanced economic opportunities, while simultaneously protecting and enhancing the biodiversity and ecosystems on which these services and opportunities depend. Such actions place the participating city-regions on a more resilient and sustainable development path. The project is originally implemented in 3 countries and 3 or 4 cities per country: Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Moshi & Arusha in Tanzania; Campina, Belo Horizonte & Londrina in Brazil; and Kochi, Panjim & Gantok in India. And 3 new project countries joined for the extension project, which are China, Colombia and South Africa.
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