Green Infrastructure Plan - Merida

In 2016, the city of Merida in Yucatan, Mexico set up a process to develop a Green Infrastructure Plan that embodies a comprehensive vision of urban greenery and urban forest conservation. The resulting Plan is a dedicated urban planning document that aims to enhance biodiversity, increase resilience and human well being as well as mitigate climate change in the city. The promotion of a network of urban trees is a central pillar of the Plan, but it also addresses actions such as the creation of water bioretention areas or an improved runoff management. In addition, the Plan sets out to promote citizen involvement and reforms of the legislative framework so that it better supports green infrastructure. An updated version of the Plan was published in 2018, covering the period up to 2021. For the implementation of the actions foreseen in the Plan, the city administration gathered support from national and international institutions, such as the Cities4Forests initiative by the World Resources Institute.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Dedicated strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Heat stress and heat island effect
Air quality
Nature appropriation / stewardship
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

Mérida has included the management of green infrastructure in its planning and policy frameworks and has made nature-based solutions a policy priority. A focus is on urban trees and their role in delivering diverse environmental and social benefits across the city. The plan also sets out to create a system of interconnected green public spaces that can provide different services. The plan consists of four areas of actions: (1) conducting studies and urban technical documents, (2) implementing programs and projects, (3) promoting citizen participation, and (4) strengthening of the legal framework. The first area of action includes the inventory of trees in the city, which has already been completed, the study of trees in parks and a multi-criteria analysis of green infrastructure in the city. The second field of action includes a tree planting program, guidance for planning and proper pruning of trees, as well as the implementation of a sustainable urban drainage system and runoff management. Additional activities include the creation of water bioretention areas. Milestones for the numbers of trees planted where set (e.g 100,000 and 200,000 trees in the city respectively). The third field of action consists of information material to encourage the participation of civil society, as well as a volunteer program, in which citizens can support with tree planting. Also, there is an activity for citizens to adopt specific trees in the city. The last axis includes regulations, initiatives and laws to promote environmental protection and encourage green infrastructure. This field of action also foresees to generate tax incentives to promote green infrastructure and the creation of a municipal fund earmarked for this.The plan also includes the creation of the Sustainable Development Unit and Urban Tree Department within the city administration. In 2019, the "Y'axtal" project started as part of the Plan. Also called the "Great Lung of Merida", this restoration project aims to create network of public spaces in an area of 22 hectares benefitting more than 150,000 inhabitants.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Green areas for water management

Derelict areas

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

City Council of Merida

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The design and update of the plan has been done in close collaboration between government actors at the national, regional and municipal levels. In addition, experts on green infrastructure as well as citizen participation contributed to the design and update of the plan. Differemt ideas and expertise was brought together at multidisciplinary roundtables and exchanges with citizens.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Type of actor involvement:

Expert task force consultation

Civil society consultation through e.g. workshops, surveys

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

Public involvement is one of the areas of action of the plan. Apart from awareness raising activities about the importance of urban nature and trees in particular, citizens play an active role in the implementation of the Green Infrastructure Plan. This includes volunteer programs through which citizens can support in planting trees. Non-profit organizations also provided support to the city's tree planting programme.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen councils or consultation for co-planning (e.g. workshops, surveys)

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Budget:

Above 10 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

An overall budget amount is not included in the Plan. However, for the implementation of the Y'axtal project alone, a budget of ca. €18,5 million (376 million Mexican Pesos) is foreseen. Financing is provided by the city administration, but also by international donors.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

Annual goals for specific aspects of the Plan have been established, including goals for a number of trees planted annually.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The Green Infrastructure Plan has established routes to enhance NBS in the urban area of Merida. Most of these areas focused on the protection and fostering of urban forests, e.g. by developing an urban tree inventory and creating a dedicated department in the city administration. The inventory of city trees was completed by 2019 and showed a total amount of more than two Milion trees. In June 2021, the city reached the Plan's goal to plant more than 200,000 trees.

Success factors and lessons learned:

A success factor has been the ongoing cooperation with international experts and organisations, e.g. the World Resources Institute via the Cities4Forests Initiative. This has helped the city to gather additional funding and support to implement specific projects for urban development under the auspices of the Green Infrastructure Plan. Also, promoting green infrastructure has been made a priority by the city government, and this political support has helped consequent implementation of the Plan's actions.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Ciudad de Mérida (2015). Plan de Infraestructura Verde. Available at: http://www.merida.gob.mx/sustentable/plan-de-infraestructura-verde.phpx (Accessed: 15 August 2022)

Cities 4 Forests (no date): Merida, Mexico. Available at: https://www.wri.org/our-work/project/cities4forests/call-action/merida-mexico (Accessed: 9 August 2022)

El Financiero (2019). ¿De qué se trata el nuevo Plan Municipal de Infraestructura Verde de Mérida? Available at: https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/peninsula/de-que-se-trata-el-nuevo-plan-municipal-de-infraestructura-verde-de-merida/ (Accessed: 15 August 2022)

Ciudad de Mérida (2018). Plan Municipal de Infraestructura Verde – Mérida. 2018-2021. Available at: https://arboricultura.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/PlanInfraestructuraVerde-Merida.pdf?6bfec1&6bfec1 (Accessed: 15 August 2022)

Photos

@https://arboricultura.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/PlanInfraestructuraVerde-Merida.pdf?6bfec1&6bfec1