{"id":15553,"date":"2021-04-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/?p=15553"},"modified":"2021-04-20T21:50:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T01:50:10","slug":"urban-nature-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/urban-nature-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Nature can Help Protect our Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nature surrounds us and supports us, whether a large forest a few miles away or a street tree right in front of your home. The nature around you provides a number of services<\/a> that help us withstand the impacts of climate change. So nature based solutions, like protecting existing natural areas and restoring damaged habitats, are key to solving climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s important we remember that cities also have an abundance of nature, which means we can use these nature based solutions in every Massachusetts community. Let\u2019s explore a few examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston Food Forest and Boston Nature Center, Boston<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Boston Food Forest Coalition and Mass Audubon Boston Nature Center & Wildlife Sanctuary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Boston Food Forest Coalition<\/a> (BFFC) is working with neighbors across the city of Boston to build a network of community-based edible gardens. Urban farms\u00a0can\u00a0offer\u00a0pollinator\u00a0habitat\u00a0while boosting\u00a0local\u00a0access to\u00a0green space\u00a0and mitigating extreme heat felt in cities. Mass Audubon\u2019s Boston Nature Center & Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a> is home to the first flagship food forest demonstration site<\/a>, which provides access to healthy food reflective of the surrounding community\u2019s preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridgewater State University Green Parking Lot, Bridgewater<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Photo \u00a9<\/em> Horsley Witten Group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Bridgewater State University needed to upgrade the parking lot for its Marshall Conant Science and Math Building, they worked with the Horsley Witten Group<\/a> to incorporate a little bit of nature<\/a> by\u00a0planting vegetation in trenches between the parking rows. The design accommodated more parking spaces. It also created\u00a0bioretention trenches\u00a0that catch\u00a0and store\u00a0stormwater\u00a0runoff from the parking lot, filtering it\u00a0before it\u00a0soaks\u00a0into the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alewife Stormwater Wetland, Cambridge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Photo \u00a9<\/em> Catherine Woodbury, City of Cambridge<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The City of Cambridge and partners restored the degraded banks of Alewife Brook with engineered stormwater wetlands<\/a> that\u00a0manage the surrounding community\u2019s stormwater\u00a0and\u00a0flows\u00a0into the brook. Enhanced walking trails in the public park provide overlooks of the wetland, which is hard at work absorbing stormwater and filtering out pollutants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Rain Garden, Worcester<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Impervious surfaces like roads, driveways, and buildings prevent rainfall from soaking into the ground, creating stormwater. Rain gardens, like the one at Mass Audubon\u2019s Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a>, help to manage our stormwater problem. A rain garden is very intentionally designed to capture water<\/a> and return it to the ground. The rain garden at Broad Meadow Brook purifies runoff from the parking lot and provides native pollinator habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What You Can Do in Your City<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can help restore and protect the nature in your city. See whether your community participates in the state\u2019s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program<\/a>. If they do, remind them that Action Grants can support land protection, and if they don\u2019t, urge them to join. And to take action in your own yard, check out ways to restore native habitat on lawns<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Danica Warns, Climate Resilience Coordinator<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nature surrounds us and supports us, whether a large forest a few miles away or a street tree right in front of your home. The nature around you provides a number of services that help us withstand the impacts of climate change. So nature based solutions, like protecting existing natural areas and restoring damaged habitats, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[178],"tags":[246,150,401],"class_list":["post-15553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate-action","tag-climate-change","tag-nature-based-solutions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/Urban-nature-protection-bsu.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t87A-42R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14365,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/climate-and-cities-ama\/","url_meta":{"origin":15553,"position":0},"title":"You Asked, We Answered \u2013 Climate Change and Cities","author":"Rishya N.","date":"July 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, Mass Audubon\u2019s Climate Change Program Director, Alexandra Vecchio, took over our Instagram\u00a0story to answer your questions about climate change and cities for our First Friday Climate Action Ask Me Anything (AMA). 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Q: Does climate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Climate"","block_context":{"text":"Climate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/climate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/AV-Sign_Boston-Youth-Climate-Strike.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/AV-Sign_Boston-Youth-Climate-Strike.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/AV-Sign_Boston-Youth-Climate-Strike.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/AV-Sign_Boston-Youth-Climate-Strike.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15603,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/mvp-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":15553,"position":1},"title":"The \u201cMVP\u201d of Climate Adaptation","author":"Mass Audubon","date":"April 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Climate change impacts all of us. Along with sea level rise, we\u2019re seeing extreme weather, inland and coastal flooding, and severe heat at a greater frequency and intensity. 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