We are calling for policymakers worldwide to take in the scientific knowledge synthesized in the 10 Must Knows from Biodiversity Science 2022 to inform much needed policies. At the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in December 2022, your decisive action is needed to halt the man-made extinction of species and to strengthen biodiversity. The 10MustDos22 are intended to support you in taking such action by proposing solutions that can be implemented with immediate effect.

Find corresponding literature references at "Read more".

MustDo 2: Did you know that spending 2 hours a week in nature increases your health and well-being [1]?

We call for the consistent promotion and integration of biodiversity in urban areas, where already more than half of the world‘s population is living today. This strengthens the health of humans, animals, and the environment [2]. Nature-based solutions such as the unsealing of soils, planting of trees (green infrastructures), the renaturalisation or creation of new water bodies (blue infrastructures) improve local air quality, climate and water regulation [3,4]. The rule of thumb 3-30-300 is a suitable target: 3 trees per house, 30% tree canopy in the neighbourhood, 300 metres to the nearest green space [5].

12/05/2022

[1] White et al. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Sci Rep. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3

[2] Marselle et al. (2021). Biodiversity and Health in the Urban Environment. Curr Envir Health Rpt 8, p. 146-156. doi:10.1007/s40572-021-00313-9

[3] Hobbie & Grimm (2020). Nature-based approaches to managing climate change impacts in cities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0124

[4] Kabisch et al. (2017). Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas – Linkages between Science, Policy and Practice. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-56091-5

[5] Konijnendijk, C.C. (2022) Evidence-based guidelines for greener, healthier, more resilient neighbourhoods: Introducing the 3–30–300 rule. Journal of Forestry Research. doi:10.1007/s11676-022-01523-z