Parks and Gardens, biodiversity carriers and boosters In the 21 st century, a biodiversity concept for Parks and Gardens Services and landscaping companies emerged in France founded on progress in management practices, the use of historical animal and vegetable species and a zero pesticides approach... Public and private sector players led this movement for innovation. The forthcoming Paysalia show at Lyon-Eurexpo, in France from 5 th to 7 th December, 2017 will focus on this approach - and ask some questions. The City of Lyon was a pioneer The City of Lyon pioneered this approach and is today a benchmark reference for the urban biodiversity development. City of Lyon director of Parks and Gardens Daniel Boulens told us during a carbon count in 2002/2003, my service realised that our count negatively impacted the environment (i.e. the urban production of CO2 and power consumption was higher than what our Parks and Gardens could absorb). Our objective thus became to reverse this trend to improve the local quality of life and create a healthier environment. To correct the problem we prepared an action plan with over 300 points, then quantified and prioritised these steps. The implementation of our action plan meant we were awarded ISO14001 certification for environmental management in 2005. The strategy chosen was a landscaping and urban development in which the place of Parks and Gardens was recognized and amplified. This also led to a significant increase in city-centre plantations, for example on the Rhône riverbanks. The car parks were turned into vast open-space zones that everyone can now enjoy. At the same time, our gardeners adopted new management methods to bring organised wilderness areas into the city and maintenance practices that are less horticultural and more respectful of the environment. One step in the 2003 action plan was to achieve zero plant health care products usage over 5 years 10 Green routes in Lyon
years before the French law dated 1 st January, 2017 came into force. The City of Lyon also puts pressure on its suppliers to find innovative solutions to problems and adopt experimental methods. For example, to provide power, the City of Lyon worked with French mower manufacturer ETESIA to develop an experimental machine running on an alternative fuel - pure colza (rapeseed) oil (manufactured 20km from Lyon). Changes in maintenance techniques to develop biodiversity Our experiments aiming to enhance biodiversity also involved major changes in maintenance techniques and the development of new skills for gardening professionals. For example, the lawns of Lyon s Parc de la Tête d Or (up to twenty years ago kept like golf greens with Keep of the Grass signs everywhere) only used 4 or 5 species of grass. Now, cultivated like meadows, the lawns have returned to their natural diversity with 30 or 40 plant species. As regards biodiversity, it must be remembered that nature does use ecosystemic favours, as Daniel Boulens explains - We should always use the services provided by nature. This reduces maintenance costs and, as a corollary, enables to do without plant health products. In the «Parc de la Tête d Or» rose garden, we used to apply 25 preventive and curative plant health products. We now use ladybirds and other acarina (aphidius) and with them have restored nature s balances. You have to accept a certain threshold of parasites, vermin in the plants, to keep or bring back predators (birds, butterflies, caterpillars ). This approach required a lot of observations and experiments. The first 3 or 4 years we had to bring the predators in. Now they come back on their own. Our gardeners also had to be trained in change. That was not always easy because many schools still only teach traditional methods. By 2007, the City of Lyon had chosen to train gardeners by combining the experiences of our teams each of which tested a different approach, followed by discussions about the results and the definition of the best and most effective solutions. With this approach, the City of Lyon is truly a pioneer. The City has also implemented symbolic biodiversity actions, including: horse-drawn refuse collection vehicles in the Parc de la Tête d Or, sheep cropping some Parks and Gardens, the European URBAN BEES programme, in partnership with the INRA and cities in the south of France, to demonstrate that there are 400 varieties of wild bees and wasps in France playing a fundamental role in the biological balance of ecosystems, the creation of ponds like the Cressonière in Lyon, in particular for teaching purposes and to develop diversity in moist and rare environments. Frogs, dragonflies and newts all eat mosquitoes and reduce their proliferation. About these methods, Daniel Boulens says - It is important to protect nature because it does so much for us. Biodiversity is a biological balance and we must always give top priority to natural balances like those in ponds. To be effective, biodiversity must be networked and promote exchanges between ecosystems themselves. We have to create blue (aquatic) and green (plant) networks to interconnect urban biodiversity. What we are doing is successful as, in recent years, mammals like beavers, birds like peregrine falcons, reptiles and insects are returning to the City something to be encouraged. Flowery meadow
As regards vegetable biodiversity, the City of Lyon has also changed its practices. The Parks and Gardens Service now only cuts the grass 8 to 12 times year vs. 16 to 20 times fifteen years or so ago. The flora has been diversified again. Rare species thus reappeared like an orchid native to Lyon: the Ophrys Rhodanensis. Botanists regularly count the flora and fauna in the Parks and Gardens of the City of Lyon. Their objective is to support and promote plant species conservation. The City of Lyon wants to share its know-how and knowledge. This is why it set up the Echos Paysages network in 2007 a platform where public authorities, landscaping firms and training schools exchange good alternative management practices. Green space on Rhône riverbanks An approach shared by public authorities and landscaping firms Like the City of Lyon, many public authorities work with private companies on their biodiversity approach, particularly by integrating biodiversity in their tender specification documents. This means that private sector players have had to change their methods and 2017 Observatoire des Villes Vertes awards The five top cities for biodiversity Last March, the Observatoire des Villes Vertes, conducted by Unep in partnership with Hortis, published its prize list for 2017. Winning cities in the Biodiversity category were: 1. Angers 2. Lyon 3. Brest 4. Nantes 5. Strasbourg See the complete list for 2017 on www.observatoirevillesvertes.fr has led to a rise in demands from the general public for species of flowers and equipment like insect hotels. Local Lyon company Tarvel is a precursor and makes proposals to public authorities, companies and private individuals. Specialists in domestic biodiversity, this landscaping company works with rare plant and animal species. Tarvel chairman Emmanuel Mony explains his approach - Initially we focused on species of animals threatened with extinction A pond in the Confluence district in Lyon
like Solognots sheep, a small rustic species ideal for clearing undergrowth in zones difficult to reach. We currently run 450 sheep on land belonging to thirty of our customers. We also work with cows, hens and pigs. In this way, we contribute to their rehabilitation. We also strongly believe in the circular economy. For example, the fleeces from our sheep go to a sheltered workshop which manufactures baize, baize which we use for our promotional giveaways. Tarvel has worked for many years with the Vavilov Institute in Saint Petersburg in the field of plant biodiversity. The Institute has a World Bank of 320,000 varieties of cereals, fruit and vegetables. The company uses the institute to obtain rare species for replanting, a long tradition in Lyon. In fact, in the 19th century, the Lyon region created many fruit and vegetable varieties like the Monstrueuse de Lyon a tomato. Tarvel can provide its customers with gardens shared with employees that conserve old varieties of fruits and vegetables. Good examples are the HQ of SEB in Ecully, where Tarvel has installed this kind of garden, and its own HQ in Genas. As regards domestic biodiversity and plant biodiversity, we still have a long way to go, emphasises Emmanuel Mony. With what is available at the Vavilov Institute, we have the means to feed the whole world. We know which variety grows successfully in a specific climate. We can adapt fruit and vegetables for every country. For the last 12 years, the company has run the maintenance of the Porte des Alpes park without pesticides. To measure the success of this kind of maintenance, FRAPNA and LPO make wild biodiversity counts - and the results prove that it works. Wild biodiversity is a good way to measure the impact of the methods used by our company, in particular the decision not to use pesticides, explains Emmanuel Mony. With three other landscaping firms, this committed entrepreneur created the De Natura fund, which supports all associations and players working to enhance biodiversity. method for fighting pine processionary caterpillars. For La Mésange Verte CEO Jocelyne Camerani, In our skills set, biodiversity is extremely important because it makes it possible to preserve processionary caterpillar predators. This biodiversity cannot be achieved if pesticides are used and predators (titmice, flies and wasps) habitats must also be protected to enable them to act as natural population regulators. La Mésange Verte Also in 2015, the Koppert company was awarded a Paysalia Trophy for its BUXatrap an environmentallyfriendly trap, targeting male box tree moths. The company also believes in animal biodiversity, as Koppert Green Area Market manager Thibault Crance explains: The introduction of auxiliary insects leaves the natural fauna time to settle in and get to work. A good example is fighting plant lice on rose bushes. The introduction of Chrysoperla carnea, known as the common green lacewing, allows syrphid flies and parasitoids to develop and control, with the auxiliaries, the target ravagers Koppert Biodiversity a sector that welcomes innovation Each edition of Paysalia and the Paysalia Trophy awards are opportunities to highlight innovators in sustainable development. In 2015, «La Mésange Verte» company received the Sustainable Development Paysalia Trophy for its Ecopiège collar, an alternative ecological
Paysalia 2017 focuses on biodiversity Biodiversity, a central dimension in the DNA of landscaping, will be the main focus of the 2017 edition of Paysalia and many key events: The Paysalia innovation and sustainable development Trophies, Thematic Conferences, including: - Commercial valorisation of biodiversity - Ecological engineering: when ecologists and landscaping firms work closely together, - The development of products adapted to urban gardens Green city days Many exhibitors specialized in biodiversity will also be present, including : VERVER EXPORT, NATURES MARKET (FDS SAS), KOPPERT, GRAINE VOLTZ, FLEUR... Get all the details of all these events on www.paysalia.com Elisabeth Elisabeth Rull Rull Koppert Nataly Joubert / +33 (0)6 35 07 96 99 n.joubert@bonne-reponse.fr PRESS CONTACT Agence Bonne Réponse / +33(0) 4 72 40 54 10 Marie Tissier / +33 (0)6 15 39 59 65 m.tissier@bonne-reponse.fr Paysalia 2017 December 5, 6 and 7, 2017 I Eurexpo, Lyon, France