Medellín's sublime return to nature
Over the last 10 years, Medellín, Colombia, has undergone a stunning transformation: huge swaths of the city that were previously encased in concrete have been restored to their natural state, such as in Parque Prado. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Parques del Río, seen on 3 June 2025. Since 2016, the city has invested in greening the landscape as a way to reduce the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, prevent flooding and restore biodiversity. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Parques del Río. Medellín's renaturalization plan includes the creation of dozens of 'green corridors' – interconnected streets, bike paths, parks and bridges – that have helped lower temperatures by 5F (2.8C) in some areas. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Parques del Río. 'Residents of Medellín feel that greenery is an important part of our landscape,' said Marcela Noreña Restrepo, the city's secretary of environment. 'There's a sense of ownership. People take better care of the spaces where there's greenery.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Workers maintain Avenida Oriental, a main thoroughfare in Medellín. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Officials added green roofs and vertical gardens to buildings, such as on Medellín's city council building, reducing the urban heat island effect and helping the buildings' interiors stay cool. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
A mourning dove perched on Medellín's city council building. 'With more greenery, we have more wildlife,' Noreña Restrepo said. 'Butterflies are coming, little birds are coming.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
View of a highway from Parques del Río. Many of Medellín's overpasses have been greened to promote biodiversity and improve air quality. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Parque Prado was a pilot project in Medellín's renaturalization plan. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
The site, which had previously fallen into disrepair, was restored using recycled materials and native plants. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Medellín has roughly 4,000 streams, and the city has been greening embankments, including in the Parques del Río. 'Everything is water,' said Noreña Restrepo. 'If we don't intervene appropriately, problems like flooding begin to appear.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Plaza Botero, a park with 23 statues by the city's own Fernando Botero, gained new vegetation and other updates. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Visitors get some shade in Plaza Botero. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
Plaza Botero. Designers paid special attention to the composition of the landscape, Noreña Restrepo said: 'Where there's vegetation, it's not just a tree, but rather a combination of different species. So, it's very pleasant to walk around – yes, because of the lower temperature, but also because the city is much more beautiful.'
Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Medellín's sublime return to nature
Over the last 10 years, Medellín, Colombia, has undergone a stunning transformation: huge swaths of the city that were previously encased in concrete have been restored to their natural state, such as in Parque Prado. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Parques del Río, seen on 3 June 2025. Since 2016, the city has invested in greening the landscape as a way to reduce the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, prevent flooding and restore biodiversity. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Parques del Río. Medellín's renaturalization plan includes the creation of dozens of 'green corridors' – interconnected streets, bike paths, parks and bridges – that have helped lower temperatures by 5F (2.8C) in some areas. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Parques del Río. 'Residents of Medellín feel that greenery is an important part of our landscape,' said Marcela Noreña Restrepo, the city's secretary of environment. 'There's a sense of ownership. People take better care of the spaces where there's greenery.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Workers maintain Avenida Oriental, a main thoroughfare in Medellín. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Officials added green roofs and vertical gardens to buildings, such as on Medellín's city council building, reducing the urban heat island effect and helping the buildings' interiors stay cool. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian A mourning dove perched on Medellín's city council building. 'With more greenery, we have more wildlife,' Noreña Restrepo said. 'Butterflies are coming, little birds are coming.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian View of a highway from Parques del Río. Many of Medellín's overpasses have been greened to promote biodiversity and improve air quality. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Parque Prado was a pilot project in Medellín's renaturalization plan. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian The site, which had previously fallen into disrepair, was restored using recycled materials and native plants. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Medellín has roughly 4,000 streams, and the city has been greening embankments, including in the Parques del Río. 'Everything is water,' said Noreña Restrepo. 'If we don't intervene appropriately, problems like flooding begin to appear.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Plaza Botero, a park with 23 statues by the city's own Fernando Botero, gained new vegetation and other updates. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Visitors get some shade in Plaza Botero. Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian Plaza Botero. Designers paid special attention to the composition of the landscape, Noreña Restrepo said: 'Where there's vegetation, it's not just a tree, but rather a combination of different species. So, it's very pleasant to walk around – yes, because of the lower temperature, but also because the city is much more beautiful.' Photograph: Jaime Saldarriaga/Guardian
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Government may have failed to comply with law on protecting birds
The Environment Department (Defra) and its advisers Natural England may have failed to comply with laws relating to the protection of wild birds, a watchdog has found. The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Natural England could have failed to implement the recommendations of several conservation bodies to strengthen measures to safeguard bird species. The Government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable habitats. One way in which they can do this is through special protection areas (SPAs), which are legally designated sites that protect rare or threatened birds, as well as migratory birds. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), which advises ministers on nature and sustainability, as well as other conservation public bodies, previously provided several recommendations to the Government on the classification and adaptation SPAs on land. But following an investigation launched last year, the OEP said the Government may have failed to implement the recommendations and comply with its legal duties to protect wild birds. The watchdog announced on Monday that it has notified both Defra and Natural England with the details of its finding, adding that each public authority has two months to respond before it considers the next steps. Helen Venn, chief regulatory officer for the OEP, said SPAs are 'internationally important areas for breeding, overwintering, and migrating birds' that should play an important role in efforts to reach nature goals and legally binding targets to halt the decline of species abundance. But she warned that wild bird populations 'continue to decline across England'. 'There has been constructive engagement during our investigation with Defra and Natural England and note that some positive steps are being taken in these areas,' she said. 'However, our investigation has found what we believe to be possible failures to comply with environmental law relating to the protection of wild birds and we have therefore decided to move to the next step in our enforcement process, which is to issue information notices setting out our findings.' When the investigation was launched, the OEP said it would also consider whether the same issues applied in the marine environment. The watchdog concluded that there has been a possible failure by the Environment Secretary to comply with environmental law relating to the classification of marine SPAs, so this has been added to the scope of the investigation. A parallel investigation is looking at the same issues relating to Northern Ireland, while Environmental Standards Scotland and the Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales have also been considering SPA issues. A Defra spokesperson said: ' Britain is a proud nation of nature lovers, and we are taking bold action to reverse decades of decline. 'This includes £13 million to improve our protected sites and better strategic approaches to restore native species and habitats. 'We will continue to work constructively with the OEP as they take forward this investigation' John Holmes, strategy director at Natural England, said: 'Protected sites, including special protection areas, are our most important places for nature and vital for achieving nature recovery. 'We remain committed to protecting and enhancing habitats for wild birds across England and will engage constructively with the OEP throughout this process.'
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Makafui Awuku dey use plastic waste make desk for school children for Ghana
Makafui na 42-year-old environmental activist wey dey deal wit Ghana plastic waste wahala by recycling di waste to produce many items like bags, slippers, room furniture, pillows and odas. Since 2017, im dey try to reduce di plenty waste wey dey di capital – Accra. Di world economic forum for 2023 tok say ova eight million tonnes of plastic waste dey leak inside di ocean every year, wey Ghana bin dey produce more dan 840,000 tonnes of dis waste. Na only 9.5% dem dey collect for recycling. Oga Makafui Awuku begin to explore how to collect more waste to protect di environment. Im now dey create classroom furniture wit di plastic waste for schools wey no get desks. Makafui and im group for McKingtorch Africa dey use dis innovation to address di problem of lack of desk for plenti schools for di kontri. Sabi group - Eduwatch Ghana don find say ova 2.3 million children across di kontri no get desks for dia school.
