Encouraging growth of urban gardens and citizen-led biodiversity

Santander City Council and SEO/BirdLife is calling for everyone to join in with an initiative launched today in favour of urban biodiversity.

The Councillor for the Environment, Margarita Rojo, will participate in the presentation of the Network of Biodiverse Gardens and Terraces, which will take place next Tuesday, October 3, starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Tabacalera civic centre.

According to the councillor, it is an initiative that was born with the objective of improving the conditions of the gardens and terraces that contribute to hosting greater urban biodiversity, since, as she has stated, “having green spaces in Santander It is a guarantee of well-being and health for citizens, while allowing the reception of a great diversity of species that find a place to live in the city.”

In this sense, Rojo has meant that, although public parks and gardens stand out among the green spaces due to their surface area, they are not the only ones that make up the green fabric of Santander. Thus, she pointed out that private and community gardens, gardens associated with educational centres, health centres and hotels can also house biodiversity, if they have flowers, plants, shrubs and other elements that favour the establishment of birds, insects, amphibians or reptiles. Without forgetting the role that terraces can play as reservoirs of pollen and nectar for pollinating insects such as butterflies or bumblebees and bees.

Members of the Biodiverse Gardens and Terraces Network, with free subscription, will exchange knowledge and experiences, receive technical advice and participate in training workshops aimed at improving the green spaces under their tutelage.

During the presentation event, in addition to explaining the goals and operation of the Network of Biodiverse Gardens and Terraces, there will be a conference by Ignacio Fernández Calvo, resident of Santander and SEO/BirdLife technician, ’10 years conserving biodiversity since my terrace’, which will present a practical experience of how by applying simple measures the catalogue of species observed in an urban terrace on a 4th floor can be expanded.

In addition, participants will be able to visit, upon reservation at www.santandernatural.es/agenda , the vertical garden of the civic centre, which is managed in a manner that is respectful of biodiversity.

Santander joins the celebration of Bird Day

The creation and revitalization of the Network of Biodiverse Gardens and Terraces is one of the dissemination and citizen participation actions that SEO/BirdLife is developing within the framework of the Santander Capital Natural project.

This weekend, two walks are proposed that feature birds as protagonists, on the occasion of the celebration of Bird Day, promoted by SEO/BirdLife at a national level. The visit to the Cueto countryside on Saturday and the walk through Las Llamas on Sunday are added to the 200 activities that take place throughout the territory of Spain throughout the weekend, under the motto: ‘The health of the birds is the health of ecosystems. If it’s good for the birds, it’s good for you.’

Santander Natural Capital and UN ‘Urban October’

The presentation of the Network of Biodiverse Gardens and Terraces will be celebrated one day after World Habitat Day, marked on October 2 by the UN, which seeks ‘Resilient urban economies, cities as engines of growth and recovery’, in a time post-Covid where climate-neutral green recovery and adaptation to climate change is the essential driver.

Not in vain, urban nature provides services to citizens as fundamental as reducing heat waves, reducing the risk of flooding, reducing the presence of atmospheric pollutants or improving citizens’ sense of well-being and health. Already in 2021, a German research team positively related the diversity of species present in a city with the level of satisfaction with the quality of life of citizens.

Working to improve urban biodiversity and maximise the services that nature provides in the city are two of the objectives of the Santander Capital Natural project. a project led by the Santander City Council, whose main objective is to reinforce the role of the network of urban green areas in the conservation of biodiversity at a local scale, promoting environmental services that help improve the quality of life of citizens.

This project will last until December 2025 and has among its partners the Santander City Council, SEO/BirdLife, the Amica Association, the Climate Research Foundation and the University of Cantabria.

Santander Capital Natural has the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

The post Encouraging growth of urban gardens and citizen-led biodiversity appeared first on Spain Today – Breaking Spanish News, Sport, and Information.