Some cities in Europe are embracing nature-based solutions to make life for residents more pleasant and sustainable – and these innovative approaches serve as a model for urban environments elsewhere

March 21^st is international forests day, which was initiated by the United Nations in 2012 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. But trees are now conquering cities as well, like in Izmir, Turkey, a metropolitan area of about 4 million inhabitants, where a green corridor composed of more than 5,000 trees is absorbing tons of CO2 each year.

After last summer’s massive forest fires in Izmir, Turkey, villagers were afraid their environment might be further threatened by urban development. But, starting from an extraordinary meeting inside the forest, the Municipality launched a reforestation campaign engaging the population.

Nature has historically been a ‘blind spot’ for urban planners. Spatial analyst Thami Croeser reveals how many cities are bringing it back into their spaces, with innovative nature-based solutions to tackle the effects of climate change and air pollution

An increase in allergies associated with pollen may be a self-inflicted wound caused by our preference for male plants, hence the need to assess better the allergenic potential of green spaces

Climate change and man-made events put global food security at risk. But researching how plants produce seeds and evolve could help us find new ways to ensure food security

Increasing the visibility over decisions relevant to preserving forests can improve the ability to get the right mix of economic instruments used for forest conservation policy. But change is slow.

Decision making tools used for policy could benefit from adding features inspired from video games to entice more people to use them. But will they still be credible to policy makers?

Monitoring communities of climate sensitive species, such as insects, could enable scientists to develop indicators for climate change effects on biodiversity and help devise policies to protect it

To help decision makers mitigate the consequence of alien plant and animal invasion, an EU-wide database maintains a black list of these unwelcome biological invaders. 

Lynn Margulis is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She co-developed the Gaia theory, the view that Earths’ biosphere is a living superorganism capable of self-regulation

Naturalliance is calling upon crowdsourcing solutions to create maps for mapping out the riches of nature