Biocultural diversity in the urban context; how to assess it?

The interaction between nature and culture has been extensively studied in rural areas, where long-term human intervention has shaped the landscape creating the so-called cultural landscapes (Hong et al., 2014). In contrast, in urban areas, where current biological diversity is concentrated in remnants of native vegetation, often intensively managed, or constructed greenspaces resulting from cultural activities, the concept of biocultural diversity (BCD) emerged but still does not attract that much attention (Agnoletti & Rotherham, 2015; Elands et al., 2015). With the growth of urban population, cities face increasing challenges, as climate change adaptation or environmental justice and social inclusion amongst others, with urban greenspaces playing a crucial role in its ecological and social resilience. Informed urban planning is therefore a priority and BCD assessment may offer an important contribution. With this work we intent to provide a support decision tool for policy and decision-makers, by taking an in-depth look at biological and cultural components and their interactions in urban greenspaces.

We have developed a set of indicator-based criteria that try to capture as much as possible the interlinkages between biocultural diversity and its manifestations. BCD is assessed in three dimensions, each with several bundles of indicators, or information layers, within which the indicators are grouped. One dimension reflects the materialized manifestations of BCD embedded in the site, in other words its biophysical characteristics, and includes standard measurements of landscape, biological, and functional diversity and also the assessment of biophysical and biocultural features and artefacts promoting welcomeness and place identity. Another dimension refers to the living greenspace characteristics and deals with the diversity of users, how they use and value the space, their perceptions and meanings and how these are perpetuated in time. The third dimension assesses how people engage with and take responsibility of the space trough governance and stewardship.

Biocultural diversity is a rather dynamic process built over space and time, and this tool acknowledges those dynamics by including indicators assessing space and time variations in all three dimensions. The objective of these indicators is not normative, by defining a benchmark of what should be an ideal or maximum BCD value of a greenspace, but it rather aims to uncover missing or underrepresented components that should be addressed when planning, designing and managing for inclusive and ecologically sound urban greenspaces.

This study is part of a research in the collaborative project “Green Infrastructure and Urban Biodiversity for Sustainable Urban Development and the Green Economy - GREENSURGE”, funded by EC FP7 (ENV.2013.6.2-5-603567; 2013-2017), http://greensurge.eu.