o au ko te taiao, ko te taiao ko au
I am the environment, and the environment is me
That was a key takeaway from the World Green Infrastructure Congress, held for the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand. What happens when “the best and brightest minds from around the world” including Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei’s Merv Makoare and Phil Wihongi (standing in for Kingi Makoare), international indigenous scholar and activist Dr Lyla June Johnston, council representatives, academics, policy planners, engineers and politicians gather to exchange ideas about how to turn our cities green? It seems, countries must re-imagine how they approach cities, centring biodiversity over grey infrastructure. Especially if, as a global population, we are to meet the obligations of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, to protect 30 percent of terrestrial, inland water and marine areas by 2030.
The World Green Infrastructure Congress offered a number of solutions with delegates shown evidence and examples of urban areas designed to optimise biodiversity.
These included:
Adaptable cities: Cities designed to adapt to rapidly changing and extreme weather patterns. Examples given were of opening up culverts and replanting native riparians with photos showing a heavily flooded area reverting to a stream and plants within four days. Examples of legislature and incentives from Europe and North America showed how this impacted positively on biodiversity and green infrastructure. Benefits included bringing down inner city temperatures (in some cases by 40 degrees) and enhancing food security.
Post-biophyllic cities: Going beyond a biophillic city (biophillic design connects nature with the occupants of a building) to cities that are designed to cater to nature (the term is used broadly here) and humans alike. For example, sand dune rooves designed so that instead of sand being seen as waste, and a nuisance, it would naturally blow onto the rooves, and indigenous seeds cultivated.
Blue-green-brown infrastructure: An integral key, according to Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei’s Merv Makoare and Phil Wihongi is to lead with ‘brown’ infrastructure. They, along with Julia Watson, Dr Lyla June Johnston, Eamon Nathan, Dr Marise Stuart and Soltice Morrison, showed historical and current evidence of indigenous green infrastructure and what Julia Watson has coined Lo-TEK (traditional ecological knowledge). These include sophisticated irrigation systems, building and food technologies aimed to work with changes in nature, such as seasonal monsoons
Although Aotearoa New Zealand appears to be lagging internationally, there are some plans underway and examples of how community and those involved in legislation are working together to ensure rivers are “relaxed” rather than “restricted” and urban tree canopy cover is extended. In other words, replacing grey infrastructure with green and blue infrastructure when it reaches the end of its life, and consulting with indigenous experts at the beginning stages of urban planning.
Climate change can’t be tackled without biodiversity and our cities aren’t going away. This year’s UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) will take place in Cali, Colombia, 21 October – 1 November 2024, followed a week later by COP29.
Ngā Ara Whetu sponsored keynote speaker Eamon Nathan, Pou Manatū – General Manager at Reconnecting Northland (Whangārei, Aotearoa, New Zealand), and speakers Sophia Olo-Whaanga and Dr. Marise Stuart. at the World Green Infrastructure Congress, 3-5 September 2024.
This article is written by Dr Pauline Herbst.
Photo: Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery Living Roof
Source + copyright: Zoë Avery, The Urbanist + Design for Nature + University of Auckland
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