Biodiversity

Placing biodiversity at the heart of urban development in Dublin

Szilvia Szabó — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 17:57:54 +0000

Placing biodiversity at the heart of urban development in Dublin

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Sustainable City

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Biodiversity

The latest `Urban Adaptation in Europe` report published by the European Environment Agency warns that the average temperatures across Europe are rising faster than the global average, and cities are feeling the impacts of climate change more regularly and more severely.

The report stresses that the need for adaptation coupled with raising public awareness has never been more urgent and identifies nature as a formidable ally on both fronts.

Dublin is no exception to most European capitals that must fight the climate crisis on multiple levels.

Dublin City Council (DCC) has been developing a project in the past year that aims to embrace a holistic approach to creating more liveable public spaces, protecting cultural heritage, and enhancing urban green areas.

"We are working on bringing a Biodiversity Education Centre to life at the Liffey Vale on a two hectares site that involves reconstructing a Georgian townhouse and connected lands situated on the banks of the Liffey River close to Chapelizod Road,” shares Donncha Ó Dúlaing, Senior Executive Officer at DCC.

Uncared for over twenty years, the damaged house and overgrown land are not exactly attractive in their current state, but with a well-planned design, the site will be turned into a multi-purpose space to revive wildlife and provide a place for locals and visitors to experience nature.

Donncha Ó Dúlaing, Senior Executive Officer at Dublin City Council.

“It is a very special location where you would find a range of habitats from forestry to wetlands and the remains of an old orchard, so we have a great potential to restore it into a rich biodiverse green space nestled in an urban environment. It even inspired to add Cois Abhann when naming the Biodiversity Centre, which means close to the river."

The decision to transform this land into a Biodiversity Centre is based on thorough preparation that included surveys, considerations of proposals, and discussions with local communities and wider stakeholders, says Donncha.

The original site to be transformed into Cois Abhann Biodiversity Education Centre at Liffey Vale in Dublin. Image: Dublin City Council

To lead by example, the site's reconstruction and development will also promote sustainable practices by using reclaimed building materials and implementing water management systems and renewable energy sources.

The building will retain traces of historic features so the house will be positioned to tell stories as well as provide the setting for stories to be told with additional spaces for interactive sessions and classrooms, a small cafe and public restrooms.

Educational activities will focus on bringing nature closer to visitors besides making sustainability and climate action more tangible as they can be more abstract and hard to grasp.

The outdoor areas will be designed to facilitate experiential learning through rewilding the area and rehabilitating some of the original orchards while enhancing the overall level of biodiversity with species that are typically found on sites like this.

Donncha shares what makes this a unique opportunity to enhance the quality of life in the city besides enriching biodiversity:

“Here, you will have that sense of being in the city but you can find yourself in a completely different world, surrounded by nature, tuning in to the trickling sound of water with birdsong, getting some countryside vibes.”

Plans for the Cois Abhann Biodiversity Education Centre at Liffey Vale in Dublin. Image: Dublin City Council

Careful planning and implementation will be carried out over the years with ongoing monitoring so we can demonstrate woodlands and wetlands with native birds, pollinators, and others.”

Parts of the site will be left untouched so the rewilding process can also be studied.

Donncha explains:

“We don`t want to overdevelop or over-cultivate the site. Instead, we aim to embrace its characteristics and transform it into the best version of itself while giving space for nature to recover.”

He adds that they also plan to carry out science-driven recultivation to eliminate invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed. Clearing out the site will probably take years, but learnings can be shared and adopted by others to address similar situations effectively.

The centre will strive to build strong relationships with schools and communities in this part of the city, including colleges and provide space and activities for practical lessons on sustainability, natural science and other related areas.

“Our intention is to link in with these communities as much as we can and also to attract people living nearby and visitors to Phoenix Park.”

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What does feeding ducks at parks have to do with biodiversity?

Bronagh Loughlin — Tue, 14 May 2024 09:18:29 +0000

What does feeding ducks at parks have to do with biodiversity?

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Sustainable City

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Biodiversity

Feeding ducks in public parks could seem like an innocent act of kindness, yet it is more detrimental to the animals and the natural environment than it appears.

The Feed Ducks Initiative is an Irish organization that is partnering with government authorities to make duck feeding in public spaces more sustainable while protecting these habitats.

Matthew Knight, Director of the Feed Ducks Initiative, explains the origins of the project: "Our story began back in 2021 in the middle of COVID. We used to take my son, Oscar, who was quite young and has autism to the park because he was really engaged with the wildlife.

He was so interested in the ducks and at that time, I always noticed people were throwing bread at the ducks.

Lots of it was floating in the water or wasn’t eaten.

I knew as much that feeding bread wasn’t right for the wildlife, so I thought to myself, what if we put a dispenser here that releases small quantities of the right stuff the public can give to the ducks instead?”

Matthew Knight, Director of the Feed Ducks Initiative

The ultimate goal of this project is to limit negative harm to biodiversity.

Matthew shares why it is so important that ducks are fed the right food and, similarly, not overfed:

“A lot of councils put up signs as to why not to feed ducks bread.

Bread in itself goes largely uneaten, then it rots and causes build-ups in pond ecosystems, which leads to algae blooms and outbreaks of diseases such as botulism. There are several knock-on effects on biodiversity from this.

Algae blooms kill off the habitats the ducks naturally feed on, which means that the wrong food also negatively impacts the environment."

The units mean that people stop bringing bread, and they also have signs on the units to explain why not to feed ducks bread and the impacts of doing so.

Every feeder built is made from recycled plastics, equivalent to 20,000 plastic bottles, and the dispensers are solar-powered.

The units are free for councils to install, and community members pay to use them while 10 per cent of the proceeds go back into environmental projects.

Duck feeder units are built from recycled plastic utilising solar energy. Image: The Feed Ducks Initiative

Matthew adds, “We also have a QR code on the unit that takes the community to a webpage about each habitat. It features facts about wildlife like ducks and geese, but also swans and other various animals.

This is a way to engage the community and get them to connect with nature.”

Fewer people feeding the bread also means we’re improving the water quality.

Since people aren’t bringing bread, there is also no packaging involved, so the Feed Ducks Initiative is, in fact, also reducing the number of plastic packages littering parks that would otherwise go into water bodies.

After speaking to his local council, Matthew was given permission to go to the park, where he designed a prototype to test his theory.

When that was complete, there was a reduction in overfeeding, which was a sign that this innovation was something very unique to the community.

He wondered if there was anything similar or if the same thing would work well in other parks.

Matthew explains: “We approached Cork City Council, and they were really receptive and said yes. This marked our first unit, and it was a kind of repurposed gumball machine, able to withstand vandalism but still look nice in the park. We eventually created a contactless version of the same device and put it in Cork City, and that received even more acceptance.”

At this point, Matthew’s idea had been validated in two separate parks and two separate communities.

“The kids loved it, the families loved it, and the issues we were seeking to address were decreasing.

We decided to bring this to more parks outside Cork, but to do this, we had to design a model that would be scalable and fit in other communities.”

In April 2022, the Feed Ducks Initiative exported its first solar-powered contactless duck food dispenser to the UK, the first original design of their dispensers.

The dispenser is free of charge to the community, which means the council does not need a budget to implement these feeders.

Since the dispensers are solar-powered, they do not need a direct electrical connection.

When people tap their card on the dispenser, the food is released into a tray that the person scoops out to feed the ducks on the site.

Currently, the Feed Ducks Initiative is in 23 locations, five of which are in Ireland and 18 of which are in the UK.

“People really like the duck feeding units.

There is a family amenity in the community that is low cost and they get an opportunity to learn about wildlife which creates happy memories."

In terms of challenges in getting started, Matthew found the main one to be sourcing the right people in the right departments within councils to speak to.

This meant they largely relied on people hearing about what they were doing. In saying that, this approach has still been effective since the duck feeding units have been really accepted into all the communities they are placed in.

"I think everyone can cast their mind back to a memory of feeding ducks as a child and so to think that kids now can do it in such an environmentally positive way is very rewarding.”

He adds: “We’ve only received requests to go into even more parks as a result. We’ve grown from one feeder in September 2001, and as of June, we’ll be just shy of 50 units, so the growth rate of the units has been tremendous.

We look forward to working with more councils and are eager to bring this initiative to more communities to empower them to spark positive change.”

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Degradation of nature is linked to economic damage and increased risk of pandemics

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 13:10:49 +0000

Degradation of nature is linked to economic damage and increased risk of pandemics

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Escaping the era of pandemics is possible, but will require a seismic shift in approach from reaction to prevention

Future pandemics will emerge more often, spread more rapidly, do more damage to the world economy and kill more people than COVID-19 unless there is a transformative change in the global approach to dealing with infectious diseases, warns a major new report on biodiversity and pandemics by 22 leading experts from around the world.

IPBES virtual workshop report about the links between degradation of nature and increasing pandemic risks

Convened by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) for an urgent virtual workshop about the links between degradation of nature and increasing pandemic risks, the experts agree that escaping the era of pandemics is possible, but that this will require a seismic shift in approach from reaction to prevention.

COVID-19 is at least the sixth global health pandemic since the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918, and although it has its origins in microbes carried by animals, like all pandemics its emergence has been entirely driven by human activities, says the recently released report.

It is estimated that another 1.7 million currently ‘undiscovered’ viruses exist in mammals and birds – of which up to 827,000 could have the ability to infect people.

“There is no great mystery about the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic – or of any modern pandemic”, said Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance and Chair of the IPBES workshop.

“The same human activities that drive climate change and biodiversity loss also drive pandemic risk through their impacts on our environment.

Changes in the way we use land; the expansion and intensification of agriculture; and unsustainable trade, production and consumption disrupt nature and increase contact between wildlife, livestock, pathogens and people. This is the path to pandemics.”

Pandemic risk can be significantly lowered by reducing the human activities that drive the loss of biodiversity, by more significant conservation of protected areas, and through measures that reduce unsustainable exploitation of high biodiversity regions.

This will reduce wildlife-livestock-human contact and help prevent the spillover of new diseases, says the report.

IPBES Pandemic Report results

“The overwhelming scientific evidence points to a very positive conclusion.

We have the increasing ability to prevent pandemics – but the way we are tackling them right now largely ignores that ability. Our approach has effectively stagnated – we still rely on attempts to contain and control diseases after they emerge, through vaccines and therapeutics.

We can escape the era of pandemics, but this requires a much greater focus on prevention in addition to reaction.”

said Dr. Daszak.

Pointing to the likely cost of COVID-19 of $8-16 trillion globally by July 2020, it is further estimated that costs in the United States alone may reach as high as $16 trillion by the 4th quarter of 2021.

The experts estimate the cost of reducing risks to prevent pandemics to be 100 times less than the cost of responding to such pandemics, “providing strong economic incentives for transformative change.”

Some of the recommendations suggested in the report:

Enabling changes to reduce the types of consumption, globalized agricultural expansion and trade that have led to pandemics – this could include taxes or levies on meat consumption, livestock production and other forms of high pandemic-risk activities.

Reducing zoonotic disease risks in the international wildlife trade through a new intergovernmental ‘health and trade’ partnership; reducing or removing high disease-risk species in the wildlife trade; enhancing law enforcement in all aspects of the illegal wildlife trade and improving community education in disease hotspots about the health risks of wildlife trade.

IPBES Pandemic Report result

Valuing Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ engagement and knowledge in pandemic prevention programs, achieving greater food security and reducing consumption of wildlife.
Closing critical knowledge gaps such as those about key risk behaviours, the relative importance of illegal, unregulated, and the legal and regulated wildlife trade in disease risk, and improving understanding of the relationship between ecosystem degradation and restoration, landscape structure and the risk of disease emergence.

The IPBES workshop report is one of the most scientifically robust examinations of the evidence and knowledge about links between pandemic risk and nature since the COVID pandemic began – with contributions from leading experts in fields as diverse as epidemiology, zoology, public health, disease ecology, comparative pathology, veterinary medicine, pharmacology, wildlife health, mathematical modelling, economics, law and public policy.

The report is also strongly scientifically substantiated, with almost than 700 cited sources – more than 200 of which are from 2020 and 2019 – which offers decision-makers a valuable analytical snap-shot of the most up-to-date data currently available.

IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising more than 130 member Governments. Established by Governments in 2012, it provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as the tools and methods to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets.

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December 2020

Fixing nature could be the best strategy for business

Bronagh Loughlin — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 15:23:58 +0000

Fixing nature could be the best strategy for business

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Why business leaders should be first in line to reverse biodiversity loss

Nature underpins our wellbeing and prosperity by providing economic value and security, also increasing our resilience to climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous challenges for people and business, and it is becoming more prominent that we need to rethink our relationship with the natural environment. Despite witnessing progress in many areas, the natural world is suffering and rapidly getting worse.

The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO-5), published by the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) provides an authoritative overview of the current state of nature.

It is a final report card on progress against the 20 global biodiversity targets agreed in 2010 with a 2020 deadline and offers lessons learned and best practices for getting on track.

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, CBD Executive Secretary, says, “This flagship report underlines that humanity stands at a crossroads with regard to the legacy we wish to leave to future generations”.

Depending on Nature

Businesses rely on nature for resources such as fibre, food, minerals and building materials: ecosystem services such as pollination of crops, water filtration, waste decomposition, climate sequestration and climate regulation; and healthy and prosperous societies that give them customers and workforces.

There are potential risks for businesses if they continue to allow the loss of biodiversity and natural habitats: increasing cost, operational risks, liability risks, supply chain continuity, predictability and resilience as well as regulatory, reputational, market and financial risks are just a few of the immediate impact that leaders need to consider.

Those who recognise the importance of nature and act to protect it could greatly benefit from that: long-term viability of business models, cost savings, increases in operational efficiency, increased market potential, access to new markets, innovation, stable supply chains and better relationships with stakeholders and customers.

The UN warns that eight transformative changes are necessary to ensure both human wellbeing and protect natural habitats globally:

land and forests transition, sustainable agriculture transition, sustainable food systems transition, the sustainable fisheries and oceans transition, the cities and infrastructure transition, the sustainable freshwater transition, the sustainable climate action transition and the biodiversity-inclusive One Health transition.

At the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly record number of countries - nearly 150 countries and 72 Heads of State and Government - addressed the first-ever Summit held on biodiversity to build political momentum towards the next meeting of the conference of parties for the Convention on Biodiversity (COP15) in Kunming, China next year.

In his opening remarks, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlined three priorities for conserving and sustainably managing biodiversity:

nature-based solutions must be embedded in COVID-19 recovery and wider development plans,
economic systems and financial markets must account for and invest in nature, and
secure the most ambitious policies and targets that protect biodiversity and leave no one behind.

Changes in these areas will have a direct impact on financial markets and funding policies not just in Europe but all over the world.

Industry players should start shaping their development and innovation strategy accordingly to future-proof their business.

Closing the gap

According to the Closing the Nature Funding Gap report, published by The Nature Conservancy nonprofit organisation, it is estimated that in 2019, the world spent between US $124 and $143 billion per year on activities that benefit nature worldwide. While this figure reveals a near-tripling in funding since 2012, it is still not nearly enough.

Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap, The Nature Conservancy

In order to reverse the decline of biodiversity by 2030, we would need to spend between US $722 and $967 billion per year.

This puts the nature funding gap as high as US $824 billion per year. However, as large as the funding gap may be, there is some hopeful news.

We can close the gap for less than one per cent of annual gross global product. For example, this could be implemented by closing the nature funding gap with what the world spends on cigarettes or soft drinks in a year.

It’s possible that the gap could be closed with no new funding.

Much of what we need is the better deployment of existing funds and smarter policy and investment choices. In other words, shifting the flow of capital away from harmful behaviours and toward outcomes that benefit the environment.

We will not halt biodiversity loss, no matter how significant our actions are in other areas unless we make substantial changes to the sectors that are truly driving the degradation of nature.

The business potential

The World Economic Forum reveals that roughly half gross world product is highly or at least moderately dependent on nature.

Having a healthy, prosperous society depends on nature systems and how well we protect them. In order to achieve this in the long-term, we need a transformational shift in how we value nature in our economies.

The Business for Nature is a global coalition that brings together influential organisations and forward-thinking businesses.

Through this collaboration, they demonstrate business action and amplify an influential business voice calling for Governments to take action.

The coalition calls for a global framework that will reverse nature loss through policies that protect and restore nature and incentivise its sustainable use.

Members represent a diverse and powerful group of networks and organisations that are working with businesses to reverse the loss of nature.

They exhibit business ambition and action to protect and enhance nature by aggregating, amplifying and helping scale existing business commitment platforms.

The world is tackling both the health and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of that, it is easy to not care about the state nature is in. However, the cost of doing nothing, in both planetary health and economic terms, is much greater.

Businesses can take action through specific projects, across their business, their supply chains, form sectorial collaboration and align, integrate and enforce policies for nature, people and climate.

These steps could lead to building a better economy and preserving the delicate balance of the natural world.

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Free online course on communicating the value of biodiversity

Anonymous — Fri, 08 May 2020 17:11:23 +0000

Free online course on communicating the value of biodiversity

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Learn practical skills from building awareness to creating a campaign plan for your nature-related project.

At the ’Communicating the Value of Biodiversity’ course participants can learn how to effectively communicate the importance of nature for humanity and for the health of the planet.

The course is brought to learners by the ’Learning for Nature’ platform, which circulates knowledge while promoting best practices regarding sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities. ’Learning for Nature’ offers a broad range of e-learning courses designed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partner organisations.

’Communicating the Value of Biodiversity’course is designed to help people who are not experts in the topic to integrate more effective communication skills into their work.

The free to access online course consists of five lessons and allows learners to complete it self-paced in three languages: English, French, Spanish. Modules are focusing on different aspects of effective communication, such as how to build awareness, how to engage your audience around biodiversity issues, how to develop collaboration strategies and create communication plans that support your cause.

The UNDP (United Nations Development Programme),, the NBSAP Forum (National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans), CBD Secretariat (Convention on Biological Diversity), and Rare, an international conservation organisation are all collaborated on this exciting opportunity.

Image: Pexels

’Learning for Nature’ programme connects biodiversity policymakers, change-makers, and on-the-ground subject matter experts to facilitate: 1) the delivery of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and 2) the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Learners can explore opportunities for building capacity to scale up efforts for nature-based sustainable development through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), webinars, self-paced e-learning modules, and private training courses.

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Earth School is available online for free

Szilvia Szabó — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:22:46 +0000

Earth School is available online for free

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Unprecedented coalition to help students gain an understanding of the environment while considering their role within it.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and TED-Ed, o launch “Earth School,” which provides free, high-quality educational content to help students, parents and teachers around the world who are currently at home.

It takes students on a 30-day “Adventure” through the natural world with content features videos, reading materials and activities — which will be translated into 10 languages — to help students gain an understanding of the environment while considering their role within it.

The pandemic has caused health, economic, and education crisis; in the age of physical and social constraints, there is a strong need for global science literacy.

That is why UNEP and TED-Ed — in coordination with 30 collaborators, including National Geographic, WWF and UNESCO — came together to launch Earth School for children and youth ages 5-18.

The programme runs between Earth Day and World Environment Day on June 5, which this year will take place under the banner of Time for Nature

Image: Earth School launched by UNEP and TED-Ed

“These unprecedented times highlight just how important it is for young people to connect with the natural world and understand science,” said Vicki Phillips, executive vice president and chief education officer at the National Geographic Society. “We’re thrilled to join forces with trusted organizations like UNEP and TED-Ed to cultivate a spirit of exploration and build empathy for the Earth, no matter where students are the world — even if it's from inside their homes, from a window, or on a short walk in the neighborhood.”

Each Adventure has been carefully selected by a panel of expert practitioners and caters to different age groups. Each consists of a hands-on experiment and nature discovery.

In addition to TED-Ed’s own content, Earth School will feature videos from notable media organizations including National Geographic, PBS LearningMedia and the BBC with the goal of empowering participating students to be caretakers of our planet.

This is the biggest online learning initiative in UNEP’s history and is available for free on TED-Ed’s website.

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April 2020

Join the Ocean Video Challenge

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 15:23:14 +0000

Join the Ocean Video Challenge

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Create a short video about why the world needs to urgently support greater ocean protection and climate action.

The Save the Ocean Creative Challenge is organised by The Ocean Agency, Adobe and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as part of the Glowing Glowing Gone campaign - a global campaign using creativity and colour to rapidly accelerate ocean conservation and climate action.

This new challenge is designed to help participants gain skills to plan, sequence and craft an informative and persuasive video, while at the same time developing knowledge about oceans, coral reefs and the impacts of climate change. It is also a great opportunity to increase family and community learning engagement and to share with social networks while practising physical distancing to help flatten the coronavirus curve.

“Coral reefs are among the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change.

Scientists believe we have lost 50% of original coral cover and with projected warming, we stand to lose another 70 to 90% in the coming decades.

What many people also don’t know is that coral reefs are also known as the medicine cabinets of the sea as many life-saving medicines, including for treating viral infections, are made from bioactive compounds found in coral reef organisms.

Coral reef, Image: Pexels

During these days of physical distancing and learning from home, we have a great opportunity to learn more about these amazing ecosystems through online activities such the Save the Ocean Creative Challenge,” says UNEP marine ecosystems expert Gabriel Grimsditch.

This digital challenge seeks to empower people to become “master storytellers and marketing moguls” by using creative software, video footage, imagery, text, and graphics provided.

You can access these online resources to create your video: Information on glowing corals, curated video clips and audio files, and high-quality coral reef images. Award-winning cinematographer David Hannan and Reef Check France donated the footage as part of The Ocean Agency’s Image Bank.

“Creativity is an essential skill, and challenges like this give young people amazing opportunities to get creative while deepening their understanding of hugely important issues. Creative teaching methods can deliver positive outcomes across all subjects and make learning more fun at the same time,” says Simon Morris, Senior Director, Digital Media Marketing, Adobe.

Selected videos will be featured on the Glowing Glowing Gone site.

Creative minds at home - teachers, students, parents, children and families - are invited to bring to life, through video skills, videos on why the world needs to save an important component of the planet’s rich biodiversity.

For this online challenge, the focus is the world’s magical coral reefs, home to a quarter of sea life.

More information about the Save the Ocean Creative Challenge >>

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