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New Project Challenges European Settlements to Become Cap= ital of Biodiversity
The work on the project will a= lso be focused on enhancing life quality for citizens in towns and cities b= y improving and extending their access to urban nature and green areas.&nbs= p; Furthermore citizens will be informed about the importance of nature pro= tection and conservation of biodiversity.
An expected outcome of the pro= ject is a completed concept for European Capital of Biodiversity competitio= n to start in 2011 or 2012. Another outcome will be a common monitoring sys= tem to control the impact of measures and long-term development of biodiver= sity, which will be tested in pilot communities participating in the awards= .
The Capital of Biodiversity Pr= oject is coordinated by Deut= sche Umwelthilfe (Germany), an organization= with long-term experience in environmental competitions for municipalities= . Project Partners are NatureParif (France), Regional Environmental Centre(= REC) Slovakia, Lake Balaton Regional Development Agency (Hungary), Fu= ndacion Biodiversidad (Spain), IUCN Europe and ICLEI European Secretariat. = The project is supported by LIFE+-programme of the European Union. <= /p>
The project activities are bas= ed on the fact that the importance of urban biodiversity, and the role loca= l authorities have for its conservation, increase constantly. The year 2007= was the first year with more people living in urban than in rural areas. C= ities occupy just 2% of the surface area of the planet, but absorb a stagge= ring 75% of the world’s natural resources.
European Capital of Biodi= versity Project
Source: ICLEI Europe
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