Conference 2003
Greening the City:
Bringing Biodiversity Back
into the Urban Environment
Abstract:
Backyard
Biodiversity
Gilbert Brakey (Gecko NZ and Convener of Friends of the Whau Inc.)
Much
of the urban area of New Zealand is in either public or private
land ownership. Biodiversity outside the public conservation lands
includes, farms, Maori land, urban backyards, land managed by public
utilities, and council reserves. Publicly owned land is comparatively
well cared for when it comes to having a biodiversity strategy,
but land in private ownership is a more neglected area. New Zealand
today lacks a land ethic that encourages the protection of natural
values on private land. Thus it requires a mind-shift to think of
urban areas as an integral part of biodiversity management. Apart
from the preliminary 'BioWhat?' report and the follow up
MfE report, 'Biodiversity on Private Land' (August 2000),
biodiversity on private land is an area very much in the process
of construction.
Green
open-spaces in private ownership, are an integral part of a residential,
commercial, industrial, and reserves urban mix. Comprising areas
of bush, gardens, motorway/council reserves and grassed areas, which
in their own right offer some degree of biodiversity. But are these
places adequate long term, or does it offer a means of increasing
our indigenous biodiversity and sustainability as a nation? What
opportunities are there for increasing species diversity, of protecting
gene diversity and increasing habitat through ecological diversity?
Ecologically
based landscape planning and design may offer an opportunity through
the introduction of Backyard Bushways which would not only
address peoples need for aesthetic appeal, but also address a national
biodiversity strategy for land in private ownership. Creating a
means by which individuals can meet their own needs and at the same
time contribute to the community and a region. Thus 'turning the
tide' on the loss of indigenous biodiversity throughout the urban
areas of New Zealand.
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