Integració de la biodiversitat i les funcions i serveis dels ecosistemes en la planificIntegrating biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services into landscape planning in the Province of Barcelona. Advancing the green infrastructure approach

New paper of LET published on Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. An operational framework for green infrastructure planning at the landscape scale in the Province of Barcelona has been developed in this study, integrating biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services indicators. This approach has been successfully implemented into landscape planning in the Province, reconciling both biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services enhancement in practical green infrastructure planning. The study underscores the crucial importance of peri-urban green areas, including forests or crop areas, for the urban biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services provision. An important mismatch between the supply and demand of ecosystem services at landscape scale is observed. Heavy urbanized areas, including the city of Barcelona and its metropolitan area, as well as areas along the coast, concentrate the highest ecosystem services demands, while areas combining high ecosystem services supply and demand are especially found in the urban-rural fringes. Check the scientific paper.