Summary

Large-scale nature recovery in urban areas could protect humanity against the worsening impacts of climate change, such as flooding and heatwaves, while helping to restore biodiversity says new report published by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London). ZSL’s Rewilding our Cities report (published today, Thursday 22 September 2022), not only lays out the benefits of rewilding urban areas but shows how it can be done at scale. The report says spaces like private gardens, green spaces owned by councils, businesses and religious groups and public spaces such as parks, urban waterways, estuaries and wetlands, as well as less obvious areas such as railways, are key locations where rewilding could be implemented at a scale big enough to make a difference. With two out of three people likely to be living in cities or other urban environments by 2050, rewilding not only provides new ways to engage urbanites with nature – improving their wellbeing and mental health – but could improve climate change mitigation and adaptation, reduce disaster risk and pollution levels, and slow down or even help reverse biodiversity loss. (Source: Zoological Society of London)