Conference 2003
Greening the City:
Bringing Biodiversity Back
into the Urban Environment
Abstract:
 The
Challenge of Preserving Biodiversity in Urban and Suburban Environments:
the Melbourne Example
Associate
Prof. Mark McDonnell (Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology
— ARCUE, Melbourne, Australia)
The preservation,
restoration and ecologically sound management of urban and suburban
natural areas are crucial to the maintenance of global, regional
and local biodiversity. Throughout the world the number and size
of urban areas are increasing. It has been predicted that by the
year 2025 over 60% of the world's population will be living in urban
settlements. Unfortunately, our ecological understanding of the
world has been obtained from studying natural areas specifically
selected to minimize the presence of humans. In addition to their
intrinsic value, urban and suburban natural areas are especially
important for providing unique examples of pre-urbanized ecosystems
at a local scale and are refugia for indigenous plants and animals.
This makes them valuable sources of propagules and organisms for
future restoration projects. Patches of indigenous vegetation located
in cities and towns are also vital living laboratories for environmental
education providing many urban dwellers their only opportunity to
experience and learn about the regions natural heritage. Urban
and suburban natural areas in Australia and throughout the world
are facing many serious problems that threaten their persistence.
The conservation, management and restoration of these valuable areas
present a formidable challenge to Melbourne and other cities around
the world.
In this talk I will describe the current status of indigenous
biodiversity in Melbourne and the future challenges we face in preserving
our valuable natural resources.
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