Strategy for Abandoned Areas Management - Montpellier

The city of Montpellier in France launched a targeted strategy in 2011 to provide evidence and guidance on managing abandoned areas in the city, particularly concerning environmental education and awareness objectives. In addition, the strategy aims to preserve Montpellier's natural heritage and promote wastelands as reservoirs of biodiversity and tools for connecting natural spaces. The strategy was the result of a large census project which aimed to valorize the city's abandoned areas. The strategy is based on three axes (observe and know, conserve and restore, educate and raise awareness). As such, the city made efforts to involve inhabitants, strengthen links with the scientific and academic community, and position Montpellier as a national benchmark in the field, following international recognition for its innovative action in this area. In practice, the strategy categorized the abandoned spaces according to their context, origin, and potential. Implementation has taken place experimentally in four projects: Zenith Friche, Promenade of the Gironde, Pastourelle, and Combemale.

Overview

Type of instrument:

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

Challenges addressed

Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

In addition to its restoration focus, the strategy protects and enhances green flows accompanying watercourses (biological links and privileged sites for fauna and flora) and supports rainwater infiltration and therewith limits potential surface runoff and restores groundwater. The strategy also protects and enhances urban habitats and promotes means for conservation governance by raising public awareness, particularly in schools.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Derelict areas

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Locally appropriate

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

City of Montpellier, Landscape and Biodiversity Department

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The strategy's design was led by the Landscape and Biodiversity Department of the city of Montpellier and supported by the CEFE and CNRS. (Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology; National Center for Scientific Research). This collaboration aimed to better understand and monitor biodiversity and improve the management of these environments. The CEFE, CNRS and University of Montpellier provided insights into the design and proposed implementation of the instrument.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Researchers, university

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The technical partners Gilles Clément, COLOCO design office (private sector), research office Terres Vives, General Council of the Hérault and the Communauté d'Agglomération de Montpellier all contributed to the implementation of the instrument. The resulted plans outlined a framework of actions for developing green management initiatives in existing green spaces and future developments. These sheets were drawn up with the active participation of agents and field visits. The private sector partner "Coloco" design office consulted a vast network of experts, from botanical activism to ecological engineering. Local environmental associations (NGOs) worked with implementation actors on managing four testing sites, including interactions with schools at experimental sites. In addition, the biodiversity management strategy has listed 100 actions where the public can get involved. Apart from species monitoring and research, the strategy also raised environmental protection awareness through public events (e.g., creating an apiary for children to highlight the role of bees in pollination and flora biodiversity). Furthermore, the strategy supported the integration of wasteland into the green network of Montpellier by promoting the connection of green patches, parks, and gardens in the city with footpaths (ecological corridors). The strategy also protected the landscape of the 17 ha vineyard and promoted the integration of Agricultural Urban Park by adding amenities for people to walk, run, and play through the vineyard corridor. Finally, the overarching implementation aimed to change the perspective and uses of abandoned areas into added-value zones with multi-services.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

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

Co-design of NBS, implemented by government

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

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Budget:

1 000 000€ - 5 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

The instrument financing comes from the local budget of Montpellier City. However, there are no overarching figures on the budget spent on studies between partners.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

One product of the Strategy was the implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan, which includes a classification of abandoned areas. Surfaces of all shapes and sizes fall within this operational classification." Four Experimental projects include Zenith Friche, Promenade of the Gironde, Pastourelle, and Combemale based on their expected diversity richness and sizes. In 2020, the strategy was also used to monitor the flora and plant diversity of the parks' meadows in Montpellier, which helped better to understand the functioning of green spaces in urban areas. The strategy identified 128 species inventoried in these monitoring plots. The strategy and Biodiversity Action Plan enabled Montepellier city to receive two prestigious distinctions: "French Capital of Biodiversity 2011" from Natureparif (French Agency for Biodiversity) and "European Capital of Biodiversity" mention awarded by the European Commission through the Life + program.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Montpellier's partnerships at a global and international level (e.g. the UN CBD's Global Partnership on Cities and Biodiversity) supported the success of instruments related to natural heritage and biodiversity conservation. Furthermore, the city's ambition to become a national and international reference in urban biodiversity vitally contributed to its effectiveness due to the local interest in addition to the city's commitment to different relevant global agreements promoting a "think global and act local" approach to biodiversity conservation. Lastly, the multi-year biodiversity action plan resulting from the Abandoned Areas Strategy has granted the role of public participation in the monitoring and participatory science programs (e.g., Florilèges observatory). Furthermore, the strategy implementation included the participation of the urban inhabitants in agricultural activities, managed through good practices with biological systems against pests.

Sources and further information

Further documents

Documents:

Convention on Biodiversity.pdf

Weblinks:

https://una.city/nbs/montpellier/abandoned-areas-management-strategy

https://www.montpellier.fr/3313-biodiversite.htm

https://www.coloco.org/projets/les-delaisses-en-reseau/

Photos

@L.Endermar