Rouen, France
City population: 484661
Duration: 2017 – 2019
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: 85000 m2
Type of area: Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Last updated: November 2021

Located in the south of the town, this garden is an ideal place for family walks. Very popular, it also responds to a scientific vocation for the conservation of plant species from the five continents. In the spring of 2013, the Jardin des Plantes was enriched by a honey garden with a pedagogical vocation, which houses plants whose juice is used by bees to produce honey. The City of Rouen undertook the renovation of historic greenhouses, work on which was completed in 2019. The objective is to enhance the treasures of this extraordinary greenery (Ref. 1). "The collections reach more than 6000 species and the garden contributes to the development of sciences, to the preparation of medical students and to the dissemination of species, thanks to the exchange of seeds" (Ref. 10).

People in greenhouse viewing renovation
https://www.paris-normandie.fr/loisirs/les-serres-du-jardin-des-plantes-de-rouen-jouent-la-transparence-BI13933376

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Botanical gardens
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Other
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
  • Nature in buildings (indoor)
  • Other

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change mitigation
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Tourism support
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Preservation of natural heritage
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
  • Preservation of historic traditions

Focus

Maintenance and management of urban nature, Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity, Other

Project objectives

-Objective of the renovation of the greenhouses: "to bring to light all the treasures of this extraordinary greenery." (Ref. 1) -"Objective: to bring the premises up to standard, which will give access to the treasures hidden in this place, which is now partly closed to the public. These are 8,000 species that the curious will be able to discover after the work. Classic plants but also others much rarer" (Ref. 2). -To make this renovation a solidarity project (Ref. 2) -"Witnesses of a magnificent architectural past, the greenhouses of the botanical garden are among the rarest in France. Some of them are included in the inventory of Historic Monuments. Therefore, their restoration has become indispensable today for three reasons: -improve the working conditions of municipal agents -achieving significant energy savings -to strengthen the pedagogical and scientific vocation of the garden." (Ref. 2) -"The rehabilitation of aging structures, requalification of conservation areas, and greater accessibility to the public will make it possible especially to reinforce the landscape and historical character of the site but also to develop environmental education activities." (Ref. 6, page 1)

Implementation activities

-A public subscription is launched to individuals and companies for the renovation of the greenhouses of the garden plants. (Ref. 2) -Renovation of the greenhouses (15 in total) (Ref. 1) -Educational workshops and guided tour organized for adults and children (Ref. 1) -Hives and honeyflowers garden created in the garden in 2013 (Ref. 1) -"The central greenhouse, which dominates the perspective from its elevation, lightly bears its almost 170 years. Listed in the Supplementary Inventory of Historical Monuments, it shelters plants from an arid environment, Mediterranean utility plants and even carnivorous plants. In the aviaries, parakeets, parrots, Chinese quail, golden pheasants and other amazing birds compete in color with the surrounding flowers, while in freedom, peacocks, ducks and water turtles roam the edge of the small canal" (Ref. 1). -"Conservation and enhancement will partly take place in tropical greenhouses. They will host the most important collection of ornamental plants in the garden" (Ref. 8).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change mitigation:

  • Implement solutions to help reducing energy consumption or support the use of sustainable energy resources

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect endangered species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
  • Take measures for ex situ conservation
  • Means for conservation governance
  • Raise public awareness
  • Public engagement
  • Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Crowd-sourcing/Crowd-funding/Participatory budget

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The main initiator is the City of Rouen. Thanks to financial local and regional partners (Region Normandy, the Rouen Normandy Metropolis and supported by a parliamentary endowment of Valerie Fourneyron and Luce Pane) and crowdfunding, the project of renovation could be financed. The Foundation called "Fondation Patrimoine" (Heritage Foundation) is hosting the crowdfunding platform (Ref. 5) -The honey garden was created by the City of Rouen in collaboration with the beekeeping association CIVAM (Center for Initiation and Popularization of Modern Apiculture in Haute-Normandie) (Ref. 1)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The city itself is the initiator of this project which is mentioned into their COP 21 commitment towards sustainable development and climate change. At the section "Support Biodiversity at the heart of Rouen" (Ref. 7))

Financing

Total cost

€500,000 - €2,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public national budget
  • Public regional budget
  • Public local authority budget
  • Crowdfunding

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Donations

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Reduced emissions
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased number of species present
  • Enhanced support of pollination
  • Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
  • Other

Economic impacts

  • More sustainable tourism
  • Other

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Improved physical health
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Protection of natural heritage
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
  • Increased awareness of flora and fauna as culturally and historically meaningful
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Ville de Rouen (n.d). "Jardin des Plantes". Available at: (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
2. Nouvellon, Marie-Charlotee (2017). "Appel aux dons pour les serres du jardin des plantes". Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
3. Ville de Rouen (2017). Guide du Jardin des Plantes. Edition 2017. Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
4. Hubard, Christophe (2017). "Amoureux du jardin des plantes de Rouen, à votre bon cœur !". Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
5. Fondation Patrimoine (n.d). "JARDIN DES PLANTES ROUEN". Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
6. Ville de Rouen (2015). Communiqué de Presse: Soutenir la biodiversité au cœur de Rouen. Available at: Source link (Website not available in 2020).
7. Ville de Rouen (2015). Communiqué de Presse: Soutenir la biodiversité au cœur de Rouen. Available at: Source link (Accessed: Website not available in 2020).
8. Normand, Mathieu (2018). "Rénovation des serres du Jardin des plantes de Rouen : un patrimoine à redécouvrir bientôt". Actu France. Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
9. Bertrand, Pascale (2018). "Les serres du Jardin des plantes de Rouen jouent la transparence". Paris Normandie. Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
10. Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France (n.d.). "Jardin des plantes de Rouen". Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
11. Fondation des parks et jardins de France (2019). "Serres du jardin des plantes de la ville de Rouen". Available at: Source link (Accessed: August 26, 2020).
An aerial view of a garden with paths and a fountain
https://rouen.fr/jardindesplantes