How nature-based solutions piloted under the Community Safari initiative were scaled up in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast

Text: Kateryna Strypko (Biodiversity Conservation Foundation), Oksana Udovyk, Tetyana Kononenko, Euan Macdonald (UNDP Ukraine)

After launching several pilot initiatives via the Сommunity Safari – a quest developed by UNDP’s Accelerator Lab to facilitate finding nature-based solutions for local communities – we  proceeded to scaling it up to other Ukrainian cities – this time Bila Tserkva in Kyiv Oblast.

In Bila Tserkva, UNDP’s Accelerator Lab partnered with the Biodiversity Conservation Foundation. A team of 10 environmental activists identified 15 locations where nature-based solutions could be applied, and implemented one of them last November (more on that later).

The Biodiversity Conservation Foundation team say their Community Safari was a springboard to cooperation with the city administration. As it turned out, the foundation and Department of Housing and Communal Services in Bila Tserkva shared the same green goals.

For instance, the department’s Aliona Kolotnytska told the foundation about about the municipal administration’s plan – called Town-Park – to improve the urban area by connecting different parts of the city with green public spaces for cycling and walking. The idea of nature-based solutions, presented by the foundation’s team, was a perfect match for this, and a roadmap for developing a green city. The partners agreed to discuss the project prototypes, elaborated as a result of the safari, and together select the best initiatives to be implemented in Bila Tserkva.

This cooperation was sealed by a memorandum on partnership with the municipal communal services. In future, this partnership will help ensure the sustainability of the implemented projects and promote the wider use of nature-based solutions. To this end, the foundation is going to draft guidelines on nature-based solutions using their expertise and hands-on experience.        

Greening the city with nature-based solutions

One of the solutions prioritized by the NGO together with the city administration was the creation of a Nature-based solution – pollination unit – a median strip with vegetation along a busy road. The project started in November 2020 and will continue this spring.

The median strip separates opposing flows of traffic. This area could be paved, but a nature-based approach suggests having vegetation on it.

Planting native flowers and vegetation along the median strip would increase biodiversity, particularly pollinator life, in Bila Tserkva. In consultation with botanist Angelina Rusanova, the Biodiversity Foundation team identified 17 types of plants to be planted.

The task of the project was to create not only a neat looking, but also productive space for biodiversity on the median strip along the highway. Mainly aboriginal and naturalized, non-invasive species that do not suppress the local flora were selected.

"This variety of small leaves and stems will better retain city dust, which will drain into the soil when it rains,” explains Mykola Hlukhenky, a project manager at the Biodiversity Conservation Foundation. “Also, all these plants will be beneficial for the diversity of small fauna, both soil fauna (earthworms) and terrestrial ones."

Another issue to solve was weathering.

“Due to weathering, the soil degrades, and its composition alters, which affects its fertility. These plants prevent the excessive drying and freezing of the soil, and serve as shelter for small insects, provide food for urban birds, etc.”

Why do we need such nature-based solutions as a pollination unit in the cities?

In recent years, public attention has been drawn to the plight of honeybee populations, which have shrunk around the world. The reason for this is dramatic decline in the occurrence and diversity of all kinds of wild insect pollinators, including wild bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths. Numerous pollinator species are extinct or threatened with extinction.

This is a serious cause for concern, as pollinators are an integral part of healthy ecosystems. Without them, many plant species would decline and eventually disappear, along with the organisms that depend on them, which would have serious ecological, social and economic implications.

Pollinator-dependent crops rely on animal pollination to varying degrees. It is estimated that 5–8 percent of current global crop production is directly attributed to animal pollination. In the EU alone, around 84 percent of crop species and 78 percent of wildflower species depend, at least partially, on animal pollination, according to STEP Report findings. Up to EUR 15 billion of the EU’s annual agricultural output is directly attributed to insect pollinators.

You can explore other nature-based solutions here.

Future plans

The Biodiversity Conservation Foundation also plans to develop instructions for a pollination project, for which the communal services will prepare a support programme. The communal services also added the highway median strip to their communal database.

As the continuation of the project, the NGO expects that the entire 6,000 square meters of the median strip will be repurposed in a nature-based way in spring 2021.

Another project in the pipeline is creation of a green bus stop also planned for this spring.

Small green modules containing soil can be placed on roofs, on the street, or elsewhere. Such modules promote the existence of a variety of organisms and wildlife in cities. If flowering plants are used in the modules, they will also facilitate pollination. Some cities are already actively applying this solution: in Utrecht, the Netherlands, more than 300 bus stops have been turned into “bee stops” to help stop the sharp decline in bee populations.

About Community Safari

If you want to launch your own Community Safari, fill out the form here and find organization guide on this Trello board.

You can also use the @Safari_Community_Bot on Telegram. This virtual assistant will share its knowledge about nature-based solutions with you, tell you how to use these solutions, while also citing successful, inspirational examples.

Learn more about UNDP’s Community Safari initiative and about five experimental projects proposed by the participants in the first safari in Kyiv. 

Join in an online group of ecologically conscious change makers now.

Background

Biodiversity Conservation Foundation aims to protect biodiversity as well as promote the idea that biodiversity should be taken in decision-making, since “public health depends on the state of biodiversity and biodiversity is a marker of human quality of life.”

UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab is a global UNDP initiative aimed at identifying, elaborating and scaling-up innovative and sustainable solutions for local communities. Ninety two Accelerator Labs teams are helping 116 countries tackle 21st century development challenges.