April 24, 2024 – The French Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion hosted the Club U2B – Urbanisme Bâti Biodiversité on the theme of “Trees and their biodiversity, ambassadors for nature in the city”. This quarterly meeting, orchestrated by LPO France, brought together 148 participants, 17 speakers and 84 structures, all committed to promoting biodiversity in urban environments.
Guillaume Lemoine, ECT’s biodiversity referent, shared his experience of transforming the Van Pelt industrial wasteland in Lens into an urban forest. This project was carried out in partnership with EPF des Hauts-de-France and the City of Lens. The intervention illustrated how a brownfield site can become a unique opportunity for local residents and biodiversity.
Sharing experience on the renaturation and planting of an urban forest
Asked about the redevelopment of the Van Pelt industrial wasteland, Guillaume Lemoine demonstrated how the ECT model for reclaiming inert soil from construction sites can help. The absence of cost to the community is coupled with strong ecological expertise. In this way, ECT has transformed a neglected, waterproofed area into an urban forest.
The ECT planting choices for the urban forest were as follows :
- creation of varied forest environments
- adapted regional species, labelled “local plant” for high ecological quality.
- dense planting of small plants, encouraging rapid growth and better plant adaptation.
- development of edges between flowerbeds, copses and paths to support a rich biodiversity of birds, small fauna and insects.
Club U2B's role in promoting urban biodiversity
Club U2B mobilizes public and private players in urban developpment and construction sectors to take greater account of biodiversity in their projects. This forum for sharing knowledge, exchanging best practices and providing feedback aims to make living organisms the common thread running through urban development, by raising awareness and providing concrete solutions.
The day was held in the dual context of the thematic year of the tree, which the LPO will be honoring in 2024, and the revision of the National Urban Nature Plan, with which the LPO is associated. It was a unique opportunity for the LPO to present its 10 priority proposals for the preservation and restoration of biodiversity in cities to the Ministry and the audience present.
The day’s active participation and fruitful exchanges testify to the growing commitment of the various players to integrate biodiversity into their urban projects, making nature a central element in the sustainable development of cities.
