Local Action
for Biodiversity
A series of local cases

City of Bonn, Germany

Local action & global interaction for biodiversity
SUMMARY: Adopting the guiding principle of the 17 UN organisations seated in Bonn, the city is working
towards sustainable development worldwide. Local biodiversity has long been highly regarded in Bonn
– some 51 % of the city area is under protection, with visible impacts on land use and spatial planning.
Awareness-raising and education are key-activities – these help foster a global focus. As host city to UNCBD COP 9 in May 2008, Bonn has liaised with other cities and their networks to establish the Bonn Callfor Action and to provide substantial local level contributions to national and global strategies.

Biodiversity & biodiversity management in the City of Bonn
Responsible by tradition: Balancing conservation and land use needs
Situated in one of central Europe’s biologically diverse landscapes, Bonn and the Rhineland have a long tradition of nature conservation. With a dense and growing population, Bonn must take a sensitive approachto landscaping its open areas and planninghow they are to be used. Care must be taken
to protect the city’s valuable biodiversity
from growing usage pressures. As one of
the five initiatives within LAB, Bonn intends
to initiate a regional programme for openspace planning.

Promoting biodiversity means
promoting citizens’ commitment

Arial view of the City of Bonn and the Rhine River which flows through it

To foster commitment, biodiversity must
be promoted through education and awareness-raising, especially when it comes toprotecting biodiversity in ways that departfrom traditional nature conservation. Bonnhas already focused on children and young
people in its COP 9 campaign and will now
develop new approaches to biodiversity education.

Global awareness – global interaction
Local action has impacts which extend far beyond Bonn’s city’s borders. Therefore Bonn aims at an integrated and broader approach to biodiversity. As part of Bonn’s participation in the Local Action for Biodiversity
Project, the city aims to launch a pilot project for sustainable procurement, with the goal of achieving a 100 %FSC-certified supply chain for wood. Bonn is also active in project partnerships designed to foster exchange andcooperation in order to achieve sustainable development worldwide.

Global contributions originate at local level
As cities are home to over half of the world’s population and the local level of government is where many biodiversity measures are actually implemented, so cities are no longer limited to city-focused action – cities likeBonn, and their networks, are a platform for and key actors in a number of processes which consolidate thepolitical voice of cities worldwide.

Mayors’ Conference: Local Action for Biodiversity
Mayors’ conferences at international and UN events have become
something of a tradition in Bonn. After Cities and Desertification(1999), Local Renewables (2004) and Early Warning (2006), the Local
Action for Biodiversity conference in 2008 will consolidate local levelbiodiversity-related expertise and activities. Following the commitment expressed in Curitiba and being aware of the need for action at
all levels, the Bonn Call for Action offers support in the implementation of national and global strategies. For more info, contact: Dr. Maria
Hohn-Berghornor Stefan Wagner
Biological Station Bonnas below.
Since 2001, “Biologische Station Bonne.V” has been dedicated to the conservation and care of areas of interestingfauna and flora (especially nature conservation areas) and to the protectionof endangered species. The conservation body with full-time staff, protects
and promotes biodiversity, reduces
the workloads of volunteer nature conservation organizations and ensurescontinuity in maintenance of areas andspecies.

For more info on this project, contact:
dr.detlef.langhans@bonn.dewww.bonn.dewww.bio-station-bonn.de

UN-conference on desertification (photo: City of Bonn, Michael Sondermann)

Involvement in international initiatives
17 United Nations organizations are located in Bonn, amongst them the Climate Secretariat, the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention for Migratory
Species. Their guiding principle – working towards sustainable development worldwide– has been adopted by a dense network which includes science, industry, NGOs and theCity of Bonn itself. Bonn is a member of ICLEI, participates in the LAB project and – together with Johannesburg, Montreal, Curitiba and Nagoya – has steered local level contributions to enhance the cities’ efforts towards conservation and better managementof biodiversity. Bonn’s Mayor also chairs the World Mayors’ Council on Climate Changeand related sustainability issues. In the lead up to COP 9, Bonn has been instrumental
in initiating the Bonn Call for Action, requesting national governments to recognise theimportant role that local governments play in biodiversity related matters.

City contacts & profile
THE CITY OF BONN is situated in Germany’s Rhine River Valley. It covers an area of 141
square kilometres, with river valleys and forests, wetlands, an extinct volcano and even aninland dune. Compared with other areas of Central Europe, the landscape in and around
Bonn boasts rich species and habitat diversity. The Siebengebirge hills comprise one ofEurope’s oldest nature conservation areas and have served as a model for nature conservation efforts since the 19th century. Bonn currently has a population of 315 000.
Germany’s United Nations city promotes sustainable development worldwide: from local action to
global interaction.

Name: Dr. Maria Hohn-Berghorn
E-mail: international@bonn.de
Website: www.bonn.de

Local Action for Biodiversity is a global urban biodiversity initiative of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in cooperation with IUCN. This pilot pro-ject of 21 cities around the globe focuses on the key roles that local governments play in conserving the worlds biodiversity and retaining the relationship between people and nature.
See: www.iclei .org/lab; lab@iclei .org

Countdown 2010 is a powerful network of more than 600 partners working together towards the 2010 biodiversity target. Each partner commits additional efforts to tackle thecauses of biodiversity loss. The secretariat – hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – facilitates and encourages action, promotes the importance of the 2010
biodiversity target and assesses progress towards 2010. See: www.countdown2010.org

Cities & Biodiversity is an initiative of local governments and UN agencies to increase awareness on the relevant role of cities and towns for conserving and managing biodiversity.
See: www.iclei.org/biodiversity

The “Cities & Biodiversity Case Series” is started in 2008 on the occasion of the UNCBD Conference of the Parties (COP) 9 in Bonn/Germanyin May 2008. Funding isprovided by UNEP, with co-funding from ICLEI, IUCN and the City of Bonn. The case descriptions are compiled by the “Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB)” project team in the ICLEI Africa
Secretariat and ICLEI‘s International Training Centre.				
© ICLEI, 2008. Pictures, texts and quotes are free of use with a reference to this source.

www.iclei.org/biodiv-2008
www.unep.org/urban_environment

May 2008