Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in people's environment. It covers everything from individuals and populations of specific species to communities and ecosystems. Biodiversity underpins the natural resources essential for human survival, shaping our quality of life and well-being.
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Living things in the city
Reykjavík residents share their city with countless living beings. These range from whooper swans to bumblebees and birch trees to hermit crabs. The city limits contain many unique, valuable, and sensitive ecosystems. These include mudflats and seaweed shores, important habitats for waders and marine invertebrates. There are also streams housing salmon and trout populations, moss-covered lava fields, heathlands, and puffin colonies on islands.
The built environment is also rich with life. City dwellers interact daily with creatures such as singing garden birds. Access to lush and sheltering vegetation is also crucial for urban residents.
Action plan
Reykjavík's biodiversity action plan through 2030 is titled "Náttúrulega Reykjavík!" (Naturally Reykjavík!) The action plan features 80 comprehensive steps to strengthen the city's biota, enhance green spaces, and improve residents' quality of life while building climate resilience.
The framework encompasses a broad array of initiatives. Among them: completing the protection process for Skerjafjörður, adding islets to Tjörnin lake to support bird life, planting more trees on municipal land, ensuring primary school children receive outdoor nature education, continuing to monitor the city's biota, and combating invasive species, to name just a few.
A crucial environmental issue
Biodiversity and its welfare rank among the most pressing environmental issues of our time, and municipalities play a vital role through development plans, education, action in residents' local surroundings, permitting, and more.
Through this action plan, Reykjavík City fulfills its commitments under the Berlin Urban Nature Pact and ensures that the country's largest municipality contributes to the goals established in Iceland's new national biodiversity policy. The framework also aligns with Iceland's international commitments. Reykjavík's biodiversity policy spans a broad range of areas and intersects with numerous fields.
Six core objectives
Reykjavík City's Biodiversity Policy was approved in January 2016. It defines objectives and key projects aimed at nurturing biodiversity - both within and outside city limits.
The policy centers on six core objectives:
- Record and analyze information about Reykjavík's biodiversity.
- To protect and strengthen habitats within the city.
- Work against the main threats to biodiversity.
- Provide widespread education about biodiversity.
- To embed biodiversity across all Reykjavík City operations.
- To position the city as a leader in this field.
The Nature City
The Nature City brochure was published on Icelandic Language Day, September 16, 2019.
