1. Greening in the Red Zone:
Urban biodiversity as opportunity in
post-disaster & post-conflict contexts
Keith G. Tidball
Cornell University
Civic Ecology Lab

3. Urban biodiversity is important in the
post - disaster and post - conflict context
Greening can enable or enhance recovery from
disaster or conflict in situations where
community members actively participate in
greening, which in turn results in measurable
benefits for themselves, their community, and
the environment.
• Urgent biophilia- individual health & wellbeing
• Environmental peacemaking – societal
• Restart social-ecological systems processes
• Disaster prevention- developing self-reliance
• Reconstruction and restoration of “sense of
place”
• Social healing and social movement
• Environmental sustainability

4. Pre-disaster? Climate change adaptation?
• Learn from these examples
• Build anticipatory resilience
• More green now is buffering capacity
• More green now is investments in:
• Sources of resilience
• Reserves of social-ecological memory
• “turn-key” restarts of urban ecosystem
functions & processes
• More green now is smart- multi-functionality-
unlock several benefits on the same spatial area.
• increases resilience
• reduces vulnerability
• restores natural capital

5. Green spaces & greening represent opportunities
for recognizing the value of urban biodiversity in
ADDRESSING urban vulnerability, urban
preparedness, and urban climate change
adaptation.
Thank you!