Abstract
The African continent is urbanizing at a rapid rate, and projected trends suggest that over 1.3 billion people will be living in urban areas by 2050. In most African countries, this means expansion of cities and increasing pressure on municipal governments to balance urban development needs with environmental sustainability. For cities located in the continent’s biodiversity hotpots, the urban expansion will occur at the expense of biodiversity and fragile ecosystems. Because of the potential for urbanization to drive economic growth and prosperity in Africa, it is essential that cities and municipalities embrace a paradigm of urban development that is smart and sustainable, and as a result contribute toward safeguarding biodiversity. Such a paradigm will embody two key priorities to integrate biodiversity: (a) African cities must tackle threats to biodiversity from urban sprawl, including habitat loss, overexploitation of species, and degradation of ecosystem services; and (b) cities must harness ecosystem services by integrating components of biodiversity as livelihood assets and “green infrastructure” to enhance sustainability and resilience in the city-scape. Drawing on examples from across the continent, this chapter discusses these two priorities as basis for Africa’s cities to integrate biodiversity conservation in their planning processes toward smart and sustainable growth. City and municipal governments must create appropriate institutional and governance frameworks to harness available data and information, promote integrated planning and management, and apply innovative tools and citizen participation for monitoring and assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The role and importance of ICT is highlighted as key to advancing a science-based approach to integrating biodiversity in smart cities, which will foster collaboration by experts across a range of disciplines such as landscape ecology, wildlife biology, animal behavior, and sociology.
The views expressed here are solely those of the author, and do not reflect any policy or position of the Global Environment Facility.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The initial 25 hotpots identified by Myers et al. (2000) were later revised to 36 by Mittermeier et al. (2005). These hotspots together cover only 16% of the Earth’s surface and yet contain at least 50% of the world’s total plant species and 42% of the world’s terrestrial vertebrates as endemics. Each of the hotspots have lost at least 70% of their original extent, and remaining habitats are under immense pressure from anthropogenic land uses.
- 2.
The IUCN case study is adapted from: Emerton et al. (1999).
References
AfDB/OECD/UNDP. (2016). African economic outlook 2016: sustainable cities and structural transformation. Paris: OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/aeo-2016-en.
Ahern, J. (2013). Urban landscape sustainability and resilience: The promise and challenges of integrating ecology with urban planning and design. Landscape Ecology, 28(6), 1203–1212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-012-9799-z.
Ahrends, A., Burgess, N. D., Milledge, S. A. H., Bulling, M. T., Fisher, B., Smart, J. C. R., et al. (2010). Predictable waves of sequential forest degradation and biodiversity loss spreading from an African city. PNAS, 107(33), 14556–14561. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0914471107.
Andersson, E., Barthel, S., Borgström, S., Colding, J., Elmqvist, T., Folke, C., et al. (2014). Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: Stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem services. Ambio, 43, 445–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0506-y.
Arts, K., van der Wal, R., & Adams, W. M. (2015). Digital technology and the conservation of nature. Ambio, 44(Suppl. 4), S661–S673. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0705-1.
Aziz, H. A., & Rasidi, M. H. (2014). The role of green corridors for wildlife conservation in urban landscape: A literature review. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 18, 012093. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/18/1/012093.
Balmford, A., Moore, J., Brooks, T., Burgess, N. D., Hansen, L. A., Williams, P., et al. (2001). Conservation conflicts across Africa. Science, 291(5513), 2616–2619. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.291.5513.2616.
Barthel, S., & Colding, J. (2017). The smart (Cyborg) city needs smarter ecological resilience thinking. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2017/07/02/smart-cyborg-city-needs-smarter-ecological-resilience-thinking/. Accessed on December 28, 2017.
BirdLife International. (2018a). Species factsheet: Picathartes gymnocephalus. Downloaded on 23/01/2018 from http://www.birdlife.org.
BirdLife International. (2018b). The world database of key biodiversity areas. Developed by the Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership: BirdLife International, IUCN, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Global Environment Facility, Global Wildlife Conservation, NatureServe, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, World Wildlife Fund and Wildlife Conservation Society. http://www.keybiodiversityareas.org.
Bolund, P., & Hunhammar, S. (1999). Ecosystem services in urban areas. Ecological Economics, 29(2), 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00013-0.
Brooks, T., Balmford, A., Burgess, N. D., Fjeldså, J., Hansen, L. A., Moore, J., et al. (2001). Towards a blueprint for conservation in Africa: A new database on the distribution of vertebrate species in a tropical continent allows new insights into priorities for conservation across Africa. BioScience, 51(8), 613–624. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051%5b0613:TABFCI%5d2.0.CO;2.
Brooks, T. M., Bakarr, M. I., Boucher, T., Da Fonseca, G. A. B., Hilton-Taylor, C., Hoekstra, J. M., et al. (2004). Coverage provided by the global protected-area system: Is it enough? BioScience, 54(12), 1081–1091. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054%5b1081:CPBTGP%5d2.0.CO;2.
Burgess, N. D., D’ Amico Hales, J., Ricketts, T. H., & Dinerstein, E. (2006). Factoring species, non-species values and threats into biodiversity prioritisation across the ecoregions of Africa and its islands. Biological Conservation, 127, 383–401.
CBD—Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. (2012). Cities and biodiversity outlook. Montreal, 64 pages.
Chan, L., Hillel, O., Elmqvist, T., Werner, P., Holman, N., Mader, A., et al. (2014). User’s manual on the Singapore index on cities’ biodiversity (also known as the city biodiversity index). Singapore: National Parks Board, Singapore. Accessed from https://www.nparks.gov.sg/~/media/nparks-real-content/biodiversity/singapore-index/users-manual-on-the-singapore-index-on-cities-biodiversity.pdf?la=en.
Cilliers, E. J. (2015). The importance of planning for green spaces. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 4(4–1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.s.2015040401.11.
Cilliers, S., Cilliers, J., Lubbe, R., & Siebert, S. (2013). Ecosystem services of urban green spaces in African countries—Perspectives and challenges. Urban Ecosyst, 16(4), 681–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0254-3.
Cincotta, R. P., Wisnewski, J., & Engelman, R. (2000). Human population in the biodiversity hotspots. Nature, 404, 990–992. https://doi.org/10.1038/35010105.
Cobbinah, P. B., Erdiaw-Kwasie, M. O., & Amoateng, P. (2015). Africa’s urbanisation: Implications for sustainable development. Cities, 47, 62–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.03.013.
Collier, P. (2017). African urbanization: An analytic policy guide. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 33(3), 405–437.
Conigliaro, M., Borelli, S., & Salbitano, F. (2014). Urban and peri-urban forestry as a valuable strategy towards African urban sustainable development. Nature & Faune Journal, 28(2), 21–26.
Conteh, A., Gavin, M. C., & McCarter, J. (2017). Assessing the impacts of war on perceived conservation capacity and threats to biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation, 26, 983–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1283-7.
Cowling, R. M., Pressey, R. L., Rouget, M., & Lombard, A. T. (2003). A conservation plan for a global biodiversity hotspot—The Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. Biological Conservation, 112, 191–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(02)00425-1.
Davies, G., & Birkenhäger, B. (1990). Jentink’s duiker in Sierra Leone: Evidence from the Freetown Peninsula. Oryx, 24(3), 143–146. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060530003386X.
Ditchkoff, S. C., Saalfeld, S. T., & Gibson, C. J. (2006). Animal behavior in urban ecosystems: Modifications due to human-induced stress. Urban Ecosystems, 9, 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-006-3262-3.
Elmqvist, T., Seta, H., Handel, S. N., van der Ploeg, S., Aronson, J., Blignaut, J. N., et al. (2015). Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 14,101–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.05.001.
Emerton, L., Iyango, L., Luwum, P., & Malinga, A. (1999). The economic value of Nakivubo Urban Wetland, Uganda. Nairobi: Uganda National Wetlands Programme, Kampala and IUCN—The World Conservation Union, Eastern Africa Regional Office.
FAO. (2016). Guidelines on urban and peri-urban forestry. F. Salbitano, S. Borelli, M. Conigliaro, & Y. Chen (Eds.), FAO Forestry Paper No.-178. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Fishpool, L. D. C., & Evans, M. I. (Eds.). (2001). Important bird areas in Africa and associated Islands: Priority sites for conservation (BirdLife conservation series No. 11). Newbury and Cambridge, UK: Pisces Publications and BirdLife International.
Gichohi, H. (2000). Functional relationships between parks and agricultural areas in East Africa. London: The Case of Nairobi National Park, Kluwer Academic Press.
Gilman, E., King, N., Peterson, T., Chavan, V., & Hahn, A. (2009). Building the biodiversity data commons—The global biodiversity information facility. In L. Maurer (Ed.), ICT for agriculture and biodiversity conservation (pp. 79–99). Graz, Austria: ICT Ensure, Graz University of Technology.
Goddard, M. A., Dougill, A. J., & Benton, T. G. (2010). Scaling up from gardens: Biodiversity conservation in urban environments. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25(2), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.07.016.
Goodness, J., & Anderson, P. M. L. (2013). Local assessment of Cape Town: Navigating the management complexities of urbanization, biodiversity, and ecosystem services in the cape floristic region. In T. Elmqvist et al. (Ed.), Urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services: Challenges and opportunities: A global assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7088-1_24.
Güneralp, B., Lwasa, S., Masundire, H., Parnell, S., & Seto, K. C. (2017). Urbanization in Africa: Challenges and opportunities for conservation. Environmental Research Letters, 13, 015002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa94fe.
Holmes, P. M., Rebelo, A. G., Dorse, C., & Wood, J. (2012). Can Cape Town’s unique biodiversity be saved? Balancing conservation imperatives and development needs. Ecology and Society, 17(2), 28. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04552-170228.
Hostetler, M., Allen, W., & Meurk, C. (2011). Conserving urban biodiversity? Creating green infrastructure is only the first step. Landscape and Urban Planning, 100, 369–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.01.011.
IBRD/The World Bank. (2015). Promoting green urban development in African Cities: Kampala, Uganda, urban environmental profile. Accessed in January 2018 from: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/172411468190763021/pdf/100090-REVISED-P148662-Report-Kampala-UEP-Final-September-2015.pdf.
IUCN. (2003). Nakivubo Swamp, Uganda: Managing natural wetlands for their ecosystem services. Case Studies in Wetland Valuation #7. https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/casestudy07nakivubo.pdf. Retrieved January, 2018.
Jacobsen, M., Webster, M., & Vairavamoorthy, K. (Eds.). (2012). The future of water in African Cities: Why waste water? Directions in development. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9721-3 (License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0).
Jarošík, V., Konvička, M., Pyšek, P., Kadlec, T., & Beneš, J. (2011). Conservation in a city: Do the same principles apply to different taxa? Biological Conservation, 144, 490–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.10.002.
Kattwinkel, M., Biedermann, R., & Kleye, M. (2011). Temporary conservation for urban biodiversity. Biological Conservation, 144, 2335–2343.
Kouame, O. M. L., Jengre, N., Kobele, M., Knox, D., Ahon, D. B., Gbondo, J., et al. (2012). Key biodiversity areas identification in the upper guinea forest biodiversity hotspot. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 4(8), 2745–2752.
Lall, S. V., Henderson, J. V., & Venables, A. J. (2017). Africa’s cities: Opening doors to the world. World Bank, Washington, DC. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0.
Lepczyk, C. A., Aronson, M. F. J., Evans, K. L., Goddard, M. A., Lerman, S. B., & MacIvor, J. S. (2017). Biodiversity in the city: Fundamental questions for understanding the ecology of urban green spaces for biodiversity conservation. BioScience, 67(9), 799–807. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix079.
Maezawa, Y., Hatakeyama, Y., Saito, M., & Hirota, T. (2014). Conservation of biodiversity by making use of ICT. FUJITSU Scientific & Technical Journal (FSTJ), 50(4), 44–51.
Marshall, C. A. M., Wieringa, J. J., & Hawthorne, W. D. (2016). Bioquality hotspots in the tropical African Flora. Current Biology, 26, 3214–3219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.045.
Matiko, D. (2014). Wildlife conservation leases are considerable conservation options outside protected areas: The Kitengela—Nairobi National Park wildlife conservation lease program. Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography, 4, 146. https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7625.1000146.
McDonald, R. I., Weber, K. F., Padowski, J., Boucher, T., & Shemie, D. (2016). Estimating watershed degradation over the last century and its impact on water-treatment costs for the world’s large cities. PNAS, 113(32), 9117–9122. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1605354113.
Mensah, C. A. (2014). Urban green spaces in Africa: Nature and challenges. International Journal of Ecosystem, 4(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ije.20140401.01.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: Biodiversity synthesis. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.
Mittermeier, R. A., Gil, P. R., & Pilgrim, J. (2005). Hotspots revisited: Earth’s biologically richest and most endangered terrestrial Ecoregions. Washington DC: Conservation International and Cemex.
Munro, P. (2009). Deforestation: Constructing problems and solutions on Sierra Leone’s Freetown Peninsula. Journal of Political Ecology, 16, 104–122.
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., da Fonseca, G. A. B., & Kent, J. (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403, 853–858.
O’Farrell, P. J., Anderson, P. M. L., Le Maitre, D. C., & Holmes, P. M. (2012). Insights and opportunities offered by a rapid ecosystem service assessment in promoting a conservation agenda in an urban biodiversity hotspot. Ecology and Society, 17(3), 27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04886-170327.
Owino, A. O., Kenana, M. L., Webala, P., Andanje, S., & Omondi, P. O. (2011). Patterns of variation of herbivore assemblages at Nairobi National Park, Kenya, 1990–2008. Journal of Environmental Protection, 2, 855–866. https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2011.26097.
Oyugi, M. O., Odenyo, V. A. O., & Karanja, F. N. (2017). The implications of land use and land cover dynamics on the environmental quality of Nairobi City, Kenya. American Journal of Geographic Information System, 6(3), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ajgis.20170603.04.
Parnell, S., & Walawege, R. (2011). Sub-Saharan African urbanisation and global environmental change. Global Environmental Change, 21S, S12–S20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.09.014.
Puppim de Oliveira, J. A., Balaban, O., Doll, C. N. H., Moreno-Peñaranda, R., Gasparatos, A., & Iossifova, D., et al. (2011). Cities and biodiversity: Perspectives and governance challenges for implementing the convention on biological diversity (CBD) at the city level. Biological Conservation, 144, 1302–1313.
Rebelo, A. G., Holmes, P. M., Dorse, C., & Wood, J. (2011). Impacts of urbanization in a biodiversity hotspot: Conservation challenges in Metropolitan Cape Town. South African Journal of Botany, 77(1), 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2010.
Rodriguez, L. C., Henson, D., Herrero, M., Nkedianye, D., & Reid, R. (2012). Private farmers’ compensation and viability of protected areas: The case of Nairobi National Park and Kitengela dispersal corridor. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 19(1), 134–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2011.587549.
Rondinini, C., Chiozza, F., & Boitani, L. (2006). High human density in the irreplaceable sites for African vertebrates conservation. Biological Conservation, 133, 358–363.
Rotmans, J., van Asselt, M., & Velling, P. (2000). An integrated planning tool for sustainable cities. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 20, 265–276.
Sabiiti, E. N., & Katongole, C. B. (2016). Role of Peri-Urban Areas in the food system of Kampala, Uganda. In B. Maheshwari et al. (Eds.), Balanced urban development: Options and strategies for liveable cities, water science and technology library (Vol. 72). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28112-4_23.
Savarda, J.-P. L., Clergeau, P., & Mennechez, G. (2000). Biodiversity concepts and urban ecosystems. Landscape and Urban Planning, 48, 131–142.
Seto, K. C., Güneralp, B., & Hutyra, L. R. (2012). Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools. PNAS, 109(40), 16083–16088. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1211658109.
Smith, O. B. (Ed.). (2001). Overview of urban agriculture and food security in West African Cities. Canada: International Development Research Centre. Ottawa.
Stephenson, P. J, Bowles-Newark, N., Regan, E., Stanwell-Smith, D., Diagana, M., Höft, R., et al. (2017). Unblocking the flow of biodiversity data for decision-making in Africa. Biological Conservation, 213, 335–340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.09.003.
TEEB—The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. (2011). TEEB manual for cities: Ecosystem services in urban management. www.teebweb.org.
Trzyna, T. (2014). Urban protected areas: Profiles and best practice guidelines (xiv + 110 pp). Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series No. 22, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
UN. (2014). World urbanization prospects: The 2014 revision. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/.
UNEP-WCMC. (2018). Protected area profile for Africa from the world database of protected areas. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net. Retrieved January, 2018.
van Leeuwen, E., Nijkamp, P., & de Vaz, N. T. (2010). The multifunctional use of urban greenspace. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 8(1 & 2), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.3763/ijas.2009.0466.
Vermeiren, K., Adiyia, B., Loopmans, M., Tumwine, F. R., & Van Rompaey, A. (2013). Will urban farming survive the growth of African cities: A case-study in Kampala (Uganda)? Landscape and Urban Planning, 35, 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.04.012.
Weller, R., Hoch, C., & Huang C. (2017). Hotspot cities: Cities of 300,000 or more people projected to sprawl into remnant habitat in the world’s biological hotspots. http://atlas-for-the-end-of-the-world.com/world_maps_main.html.
White, R., Turpie, J., & Letley, G. (2017). Greening Africa’s cities: Enhancing the relationship between urbanization, environmental assets and ecosystem services. World Bank, Washington, DC. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0.
World Bank. (2017). Sierra Leone—Rapid damage and loss assessment of August 14th, 2017 landslides and floods in the western area (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. Accessed from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/523671510297364577/Sierra-Leone-Rapid-damage-and-loss-assessment-of-August-14th-2017-landslides-and-floods-in-the-western-area.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bakarr, M.I. (2019). Biodiversity for Smart Cities. In: Mboup, G., Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, B. (eds) Smart Economy in Smart African Cities. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3471-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3471-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-3470-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-3471-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)