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New handbook introduces the value of urban biodiversity and its conservation measures

Stockholm Environmental Institute Tallinn Centre, Estonian Institute for Sustainable Development  (SEI Tallinn) has published the handbook "Elurikas linn. Linnaelustiku käsiraamat – Biologically Diverse City. Urban Bioversity Handbook“ (in Estonian). It provides a survey of biodiversity conservation methods for sustaining biodiversity in urban green areas and urban planning. The authors are Meelis Uustal, Piret Kuldna and Kaja Peterson.

The handbook introduces methods to conserve and increase  biological diversity of urban forests,parks, gardens and buildings and to create new biologically high-quality habitats.

The habitat requirements of animal groups and species living in towns are described, their importance to city dwellers  and role in nature is explained.The handbook also lists important plant species that can be used to enrich urban fauna. 

Common invertebrates, including pollinators, and terrestrial vertebrates are addressed in the book. The main attention has been devoted to bats that need much more attention and conservation than hitherto due to their secretive way of life, and to birds that is the most abundant vertebrate group in urban areas.

Since more than 70% of the population in Europe lives in cities; the state of urban nature is one of the most important quality of life indicators.Regrettably the present practice in urban planning policy undervalues the importance of biodiversity providing essential ecosystem services. As a result, cities may lose their value and quality of life. Lack of knowledge and indifference in planning has already taken their toll on urban biodiversity, resulting in impoverished urban habitats and cities with lower quality of life. However, there is a plethora of simple measures to turn this trend, most of which are described in the book.

The handbook is primarily intended for local and regional authority specialists in urban planning, landscaping and nature conservation, green space managers, landscape architects, planners, environmental and civil society organizations and other actors whose decisions and actions affect the biodiversity of our cities.

The book is distributed to the target groups without charge. It can also be obtained   in PDF format from the SEI web page (in Estonian).

The book is dedicated to the 100 year anniversary of Estonian nature protection and the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) 2010. The goal of IYB is to improve public awareness of the importance of biological diversity and the risks of biodiversity decline both in natural and urban ecosystems.