Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the heterogeneity of the biomass in people's environments, from individuals and populations of individual species to habitats and ecosystems. This diversity is the basis of natural resources, which are vital for human livelihoods, but also shapes quality of life and happiness, not least in cities where nature can be of reduced dose.

Smokers share their city with a myriad of life forms, from elves to honeyflies and birch trees to cuddly crabs. Within the city limits, many distinctive, valuable, and fragile ecosystems are found, such as clays and turtles, which are important habitats for waders and sea invertebrates, streamer lakes that house salmon and herring populations, mossy ravines, mollusks, and islet groves. The built environment is also rich in life, and city dwellers are in daily contact with living creatures, such as singing garden birds. The presence of greedy and sheltering greenery is of vital importance to the city's citizens.

Protecting organisms

Biodiversity is to be picked up globally, unfortunately largely because of man's turnover, but his activities have directly or indirectly caused habitat destruction, ecosystem decline and species extinction. There is an ever-increasing willingness among the public and governments to pursue and protect biotopes and their environment. Cities around the world are at the heart of that journey, and land use and use decisions are natural resource-intensive on their grounds. With this new strategy, Reykjavik will become an active participant in this work. This also supports Iceland's participation in international cooperation on behalf of the United Nations International Convention on Biological Diversity.

The policy is based on six main objectives:

• That information on biodiversity in is recorded and analysed.
• That the status of biodiversity in the urban landscape is strong.
• That the main threats to biodiversity are overcome.
• That biodiversity education be carried out in a comprehensive manner.
• That the place of biodiversity is guaranteed in the activities of
• That it is a leader in policy and action on biodiversity.
• See the full Biodiversity Strategy
  

Action plan

Under each objective, key initiatives are defined that have a direct diagonal to the diverse actions involved in the implementation of the strategy. These include projects such as research into key ecosystems and key species, assessment of ecosystem services, assessment of the status of protected areas, conservation of bird life, recovery of wetlands, enhancement of green space in built environments, measures against progressive plant species, monitoring of pollution in poultry, public education on the nature of Reykjavik, increasing the number of natural solutions for climate change adaptation, and so on.

A 10-year action plan has been developed, which was approved by the City Council in March 2017. The preparation and implementation of an action plan is managed by the Directorate-General for the Environment and Planning. See 2016-2026 Budget