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Invest in nature and reap cash benefits, World Economic Forum urges cities
(Reuters, 17 Jan 2022) Cities should invest more in expanding green spaces and nurturing natural systems - not just to keep residents healthy and tackle climate-change risks but to boost their economies.
After a landslide in 2017 killed 1,141 people and left more than 3,000 homeless in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, the recovery plan included training residents to plant 21,000 native trees to reduce the risk of future disasters on bare hillsides.
Amid erratic and unusually heavy rains, as well as urban expansion, the city's mayor has also run a "Freetown the Treetown" campaign to increase green cover 50% by the end of 2022, with locals tracking tree growth via a smartphone app.
In South Korea's Seoul, meanwhile, the city government worked with residents to restore the Cheonggyecheon Stream, a river covered by a highway overpass for decades.
The nature revival project, carried out in the early 2000s, has lowered traffic, flooding and temperatures, stimulated nearly $2 billion in urban redevelopment and attracts 64,000 visitors a day.
Such examples suggest why cities worldwide should invest more in expanding green spaces and nurturing natural systems that provide water, food and clean air - not just to keep residents healthy and tackle climate-change risks but to boost their economies, researchers said on Monday.
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Reuters, 17 Jan 2022: Invest in nature and reap cash benefits, World Economic Forum urges cities
