Last updated: September 2024
The Vale da Ameixoeira Urban Park is a key part of Lisbon's Peripheral Green Corridor, covering 20 hectares and aiming to enhance the city's ecological and social resilience. It includes pedestrian and cycling paths, rest areas, picnic spots, skate parks, and playgrounds, enabling recreational activities while providing scenic views (Ref 1). The park has undergone several requalification initiatives, including the tree planting project in 2018, which saw the community and municipal bodies plant over 130 native trees and shrubs, promoting biodiversity and environmental sustainability (Ref 3). Additionally, the park supports community-based vegetable gardens, integrating horticultural practices to promote local engagement and foster social inclusion (Ref 3). More recently, as part of the Life Lungs project, another 600 drought-resistant trees were planted to mitigate climate change impacts, such as urban heating and water scarcity (Ref 5). The Lisbon Participatory Budget funds the project and reflects the community’s demand for sustainable urban development (Ref 2).
Parque Urbano do Vale da Ameixoeira
https://informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt/contactos/diretorio-da-cidade/parque-urbano-do-vale-da-ameixoeira
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Community gardens and allotments
- Community gardens
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Environmental and climate justice
- Sense of community and community engagement
- Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
- Sustainable production
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Drought
- Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
- Environmental Degradation
- Deforestation and forest degradation
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
Key priorities
Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration), Social Justice and community
Focus
Maintenance and management of urban nature, Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks), Urban reforestation, restoration of street trees
Project objectives
1. Requalification of Green Space: Transform the Ameixoeira Valley into a green space for the parish, enhancing its urban and social functions while promoting landscape value (Ref 3).
2. Biodiversity Enhancement: Restore and preserve biodiversity by planting native species such as olive trees, oaks, and strawberry trees, among others (Ref 1).
3. Community Involvement: To promote social participation and engage local residents, schools, and organisations in voluntary tree-planting initiatives and the development of vegetable gardens (Ref 3).
4. Creation of Recreational Facilities: Establish facilities such as picnic areas, playgrounds, skate parks, and cycle paths to provide diverse recreational opportunities for the community (Ref 1).
5. Support for Horticulture: Implement a horticultural area and community vegetable gardens to encourage sustainable agriculture and strengthen local community ties (Ref 2, Ref 3).
6. Climate Action: Plant drought-resistant species, such as hawthorn and almond trees, to promote resilience to urban heating and water scarcity (Ref 5).
Implementation activities
1. Tree Planting Initiatives: Native trees and shrubs, such as elms, oaks, and strawberry trees, were planted to restore biodiversity and mitigate the loss of native vegetation (Ref 3).
2. Development of Community Vegetable Gardens: The park includes an area designated for vegetable gardens where local residents can engage in sustainable agriculture (Ref 3).
3. Creation of Recreational Facilities: The park was equipped with picnic areas, playgrounds, a skate park, and pedestrian/cycling paths (Ref 1).
4. Horticultural Area Establishment: A dedicated horticultural area was established to encourage local food production and sustainable practices (Ref 2).
These activities address issues of biodiversity loss, community disconnection, and lack of accessible green spaces by requalifying the park as a multifunctional and sustainable urban environment.
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
- Increase the use of or more efficient agroforestry practices (e.g. soil moisture, reduce evaporation) or drought-resistant species for agriculture
- Improved agricultural practices for improved food security and prevention of food scarcity
- Other
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Restore native species
- Restore valued species
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
- District/neighbourhood association
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The project is primarily led by GEBALIS, a government association, and the Lisbon City Council (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa). GEBALIS played a significant role in community-based initiatives, such as organizing the tree-planting event and promoting the involvement of local schools, residents' associations, and other community organizations (Ref 3). The Participatory Budget of Lisbon also contributed to the project’s development, showing citizen engagement in decision-making (Ref 2, Ref 5).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Type of enablers
Funds, subsidies or investment for GI/NBS in the city (available for the city or provided by the city)
Financing
Total cost
€500,000 - €2,000,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Water management and blue areas
- Reduced risk of damages by drought
- Expected reduced risk of damages by drought
- Green space and habitat
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Achieved reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
- Achieved increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Expected improvement in people’s connection to nature
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
Lisbon Municipality (n.d.). Ameixoeira Valley Urban Park. Accessed on September 9, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Lisbon Municipality (n.d.). Ameixoeira Valley Urban Park 1st Phase. Accessed on September 9, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Lisbon Municipality (2023). requalification of the Ameixoeira Valley park and vegetable gardens. Accessed on September 9, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Gebalis (2018). O Meo Bairro. Accessed on September 9, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Os Verdes (2024). Pavement of the Ameixoeira Valley Urban Park. Accessed on September 9, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Barbedo, R. (2024). From hawthorns to almond trees. Ameixoeira Urban Park has over 600 trees. TimeOut, Accessed on September 9, 2024, [Source link];
Parque Urbano do Vale da Ameixoeira
DR/CML
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.