Restoring Ecosystems Provides Opportunities for Locals

Summary

"The Peri­pheral Garden of Medellín was es­tab­lished in 2012 in re­sponse to the risks of urban growth in up­hill neigh­bor­hoods. Cov­er­ing more than 65 hec­tares, the garden fea­tures foot­paths, bike lanes, and clean mo­bil­ity cor­ridors, while fa­cil­it­at­ing eco­lo­gical res­tor­a­tion, en­vir­on­mental pre­ser­va­tion, and sus­tain­able hous­ing. Thou­sands of nat­ive trees have been planted to re­store eco­sys­tems, and or­ganic orch­ids have been de­veloped to en­cour­age new eco-busi­nesses and pre­serve re­gional farm­ing tra­di­tions.

Con­scious of the com­munit­ies that already in­habit these areas, the city in­cluded them in the pro­cess by provid­ing em­ploy­ment and edu­ca­tional op­por­tun­it­ies. At least 300 fam­il­ies are work­ing to cul­tiv­ate their food and start their own busi­nesses, while 150 new lead­ers have been trained to man­age their ter­rit­ory on the hill­side. An­other achieve­ment is the es­tab­lish­ment of the Fique As­so­ci­ation of Pan de Azu­car, con­sist­ing of 100 fam­il­ies with the goal to com­mer­cial­ize the nat­ive plant."

Quote from: http://solutions.sustainia.me/solutions/restoring-ecosystems-provides-opportunities-for-locals/