Public-community agreement between the Urban Forest Network and the Mayor's Office of Cali, Colombia

The agreement is created for the generation of knowledge that contributes to key decision-making processes for environmental management in the city of Cali, such as the Municipal System of Protected Areas (SIMAP), the priorities for action for climate change mitigation and the Urban Forestry Plan of the city. The objective of the agreement between the Administrative Department of Environmental Management of Cali (DAGMA) and the Community Network of Urban Forests is to contribute to make Cali a more nature-friendly city, promoting the welfare of its citizens, through the consolidation of a network of Urban Forests built with collective effort that will necessarily result in the mitigation of the negative impacts of climate change in the city. Within this framework, DAGMA and the Urban Forest Network must generate joint actions that allow for the increase and quality of vegetation cover in public and private green areas, with the objective of preserving the biodiversity conditions of the different ecosystems of the city, strengthening and improving the socio-ecological conditions of urban green spaces, in order to improve urban-rural ecological connectivity. This process should be accompanied by an effective community participation in the management of public and private green areas through the formulation and development of planned activities that allow compliance with the indicators established in the harmonization plans of urban forests.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Agreement-based or cooperative instrument›Public-community agreement

Challenges addressed

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

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The agreement is focused on rehabilitation, not restoration. It is an instrument of management and qualitative and quantitative improvement of the green cover of the Urban Forests of Santiago de Cali and its polygons of influence. It seeks to reduce heat islands and improve qualitatively and quantitatively the urban biodiversity with community participation - increasing the awareness of society through pedagogical mechanisms,

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Green areas for water management

Derelict areas

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Other

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Inclusivity

Multifunctional NBS support

Governance

Non-governmental actor(s)

Initiating body:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Details about how the instrument was designed:

Members of the Urban Forest Community Network and DAGMA officials participated in the development of the instrument.

Targeted actors:

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

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs, NGOs, etc.

Details about the implementation:

DAGMA supported the formulation of the agreement and its signing by the entity's management and delegates from the Urban Forests. Within the framework of the agreement, a joint work table was created to promote the agreed objectives and a follow-up committee that will do the same to ensure compliance with the agreement. This agreement is articulated and framed within the Forestry Plan, the Municipal System of Protected Areas (SIMAP) and the city's climate change strategy. The agreement is contemplated as a complementary conservation strategy in the SIMAP.

How did the government support the instrument?:

Through dialogues established between DAGMA and the Community Network and formalized with the signing of the agreement , which aims among others to access resources from the environmental surtax , to be executed by strategic allies in urban forests. With this figure, $1.7 billion pesos have been executed from 2019 to 2021.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public national budget

Budget:

100 000 € 500 000€

Details about instrument financing:

DAGMA's own resources and environmental surtax administered by the Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

A joint working group was created to promote the agreed objectives and a follow-up committee was created to ensure compliance with the agreement.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

An evaluation of the progress of the Agreement is carried out every three months.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Awareness and participation of neighbors of the Urban Forests and institutions, planting of more than 1500 BsT trees / 3000 m2 of pollinator gardens, two km of permeable trails, plots of shrubs for bird and mammal feeding, characterization of 4500 trees and palms of the Urban Forests, signage, recovery of avifauna, web page, publications, 25 Urban Forests in the process with about 20% of the green area of the city, 13 harmonization plans.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The participation of the members of the Network in the construction of the agreement is an example of good practice of collaboration between organized civil society and local government for biodiversity and ecosystem management at the local level.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

web page: bosquesurbanosdecali.com where the DAGMA - Urban Forest Network agreement was uploaded, it is being continuously fed, so far only 5 urban forests have been uploaded, but to date there are 23, 20% of the urban green areas of the city.

Interview(s):

DAGMA and Members of the Community Network of Urban Forests of Santiago de Cali

Further documents

Documents:

Forest cali.jpg

Weblinks:

https://bosquesurbanosdecali.com

Photos

@Viviana Giraldo Ossa