News

• Camera Trap Tuesday: Islands in Los Angeles:: “What Griffith Park, one of the largest urban parks in America, is surrounded by, however, is freeways. And homes, and businesses. Urban sprawl.”
• What Is the Point of Zoos?:: “I am also a great advocate of zoos that focus on native species and their ecosystems, and I hope to one day see, or hear about, an urban exhibit that truly links zoos with the cities that surround them.”
• Biodiversity can flourish on an urban planet:: “Research shows that cities can in fact support biodiversity and this can have major implications for conservation efforts.”
• Wildlife Oases in New York’s Concrete Jungle:: “A resourceful researcher discovers that urban green roofs attract surprisingly large numbers of migratory birds and their insect prey.”
• Off-Season Visits to New York’s Newest Naturalistic Parks and Gardens by Harry Wade:: “In the garden, winter’s…
  

Today I’m pleased to have the opportunity to share Architect Kaveh Samiei’s design for The Center for Ecological Learnings in Tehran. Following is a description of Kaveh’s design and drawings which he graciously provided. Thank you to Kaveh for sharing this wonderful project. Follow his writings on The Nature of Cities blog where he recently wrote the wonderful and detailed post, Architecture and Urban Ecosystems: From Segregation to Integration.

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News

• Bringing natural life into buildings:: Eco-architect Dr Ken Yeang’s attempts to introduce more nature into architecture are highlighted in this article. “Many buildings have been ‘de-natured’. Human beings have simplified and fragmented nature.”
• Loft ambitions: why green roofs are the future of urban gardening:: This article from The Ecologist discusses the many benefits of green roofs.
• Do Wildlife Corridors Really Work?:: From the Smithsonian blog is a discussion about whether corridors actually work and a new crowd-sourcing project to find the answer.
• Citizen scientists vital for wildlife data collection:: A great article about how scientists rely heavily on their volunteer data collectors and how important citizen science is.
• Gardens: sharp practices to encourage hedgehogs:: One more reason to encourage hedgehogs into European gardens, they are excellent for pest control.
• Biodiversity project maps urban ants:: An in-depth article about the School of Ants program and…
  

News

• Bloomin’ lovely gardens brighten up London’s East End:: A competition for residents of London’s East End, the winners were chosen for showing ” what they can do with plants, wildlife and the environment.”
• Can biodiversity be accommodated in today’s urban environment?:: Posing the question, this piece from The Ecologist looks at recent efforts including the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 and the more recent Animal Estates project in London by Fritz Haeg.
• Yesterday’s pool is today’s pond:: An interesting idea of turning unused swimming pools into ponds for wildlife, making them require less maintenance and more environmentally friendly.
• Chicago Plans A New Park That Dwarves All Other Urban Parks:: Chicago is planning a 140,000 acre network of parks, open space and recreational facilities.
• 2011 in review: West Seattle Wildlife:: An interesting post from the West Seattle Blog featuring the variety of wildlife reported in West Seattle last year…
  

News

• Vancouver Convention Centre roof a hive of insect and plant activity:: Three years on and the green roof of the Vancouver Convention Center has been greatly successful for wildlife housing ants, spiders, dragonflies, grasshoppers, bees and sparrows and finches.
• California Academy of Sciences’ roof is thriving:: Another green roof at three years old, the California Academy of Sciences’ roof has also become successful wildlife habitat including 173 species of arthropods including spiders, bees and butterflies as well as 30 species of birds such as Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbirds.
• ‘Natural landscapes’ gone wild:: Yet another article on a subject which is seeing more and more press coverage; natural landscapes as a growing movement which are meeting resistance from cities and neighbors.
• A Reward for Bird-Friendly Buildings:: The LEED certification program is introducing project credits to designers for using certain criteria that make buildings more bird-friendly.