Last updated: March 2025
The City of Seville has carried out four tree planting campaigns between 2020 and 2024, aiming to meet the goals of its Urban Tree Management Plan for Seville [Ref. 2-7]. The intervention as described here is based on the planting campaigns to date, but as the Management Plan spans from 2019 to 2039, more campaigns can expected in the future. The tree management plan aims to provide guidelines for the planning of trees in the city to maximise their value and minimize conflicts. As part of the process, the current state of the tree population in Seville has been evaluated. The management plan describes the ecosystem services of trees related to climate adaptation, biodiversity and public health. It also identifies challenges and conflicts that may arise due to urban trees and their management [Ref. 1]. The plan has a goal to increase the tree cover in Seville by 5 % over 20 years, which leads to the ambition of planting 5000 trees yearly and the tree planting campaigns over the last years. Between 2020 and 2024, about 1000-5000 trees have been planted each year [Ref. 1-5].
Newly planted trees in a park in Seville
https://www.sevilla.org/actualidad/plantaciones/campana-de-plantaciones-2021-2022
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
- Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Noise reduction
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Improving mental health
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social cohesion
- Sense of community and community engagement
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
- Environmental Degradation
- Biodiversity loss
- Soil degradation and loss
- Air pollution
Key priorities
Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration), Social Justice and community
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of any other green urban spaces, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Updated management structure of existing green spaces (e.g. parks), Urban reforestation, restoration of street trees, Strategy, plan or policy development, Implementation of city-wide or neighborhood initiatives focused on biodiverity protection (e.g. bee-friendly initiatives, butterfly protection, "Spring cleaning"), Creation of city-wide or neighborhood green and blue infrastrcuture protection or enhancement strategies/plans
Project objectives
The tree planting campaigns are carried out to meet the relevant goals of the Urban Tree Management Plan for Seville, which are to:
1. Achieve a more functional tree population that enhances the ecosystem services provided by urban trees.
2. Increase the tree cover in the city by 5 % over 20 years, and plant 5000 trees every year.
3. Orient management practices towards maximizing the benefits of urban trees while simultaneously reducing conflicts and issues associated with their presence.
4. Focus on strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change, which is particularly important given Seville's climate conditions.
5. Foster shared responsibility among municipal areas and the community in the care and management of urban trees, promoting trust and transparency in the process.
6. Ensure that the benefits of urban trees are distributed equitably across all communities within the city [Ref. 1-5].
Implementation activities
1. The urban tree management plan was drafted based on a consultation and participation process, which included different departments of the municipality, technicians from maintenance companies, neighbourhood associations and environmental organisations [Ref. 1]
2. The urban tree management plan was approved in 2019 and will apply until 2039 [Ref. 1].
3. In the 2020-2021 campaign, 3570 new trees were to be planted in streets and parks [Ref. 2]
4. In the 2021-2022 campaign, 5560 trees and 2803 shrubs were planted [Ref. 3]
5. In the 2022-2023 campaign, 2432 trees were planted [Ref. 4]
6. In the 2023-2024 campaign, 1151 trees were planted in phase 1, and an unknown number in phase 2 [Ref. 5]
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
- Restore and protect forests to prevent water runoff and assets loss due to flooding
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The City of Sevilla is responsible for the tree plan and the planting campaigns. The city cooperates with the regional government and private institutions regarding reforestation in parks. The citizens of the city are stakeholders as the plan aims for the communities to be involved in caring for the trees. In creating the plan, the city held consultations with stakeholders such as maintenance companies, neighbourhood associations and environmental organisations. However, it is not clear how citizens are actively involved in the planting campaigns [Ref. 1-5].
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Yes
(A law on environmental quality management of the regional government of Andalusia was considered in the making of the tree plan. The plan should also align with the Andalusian Climate Action Plan [Ref. 1])
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Urban Tree Management Plan for Seville)
Type of enablers
Capacity-building projects, NBS research project (e.g., H2020, Urban Living Labs, national research projects), Funds, subsidies or investment for GI/NBS in the city (available for the city or provided by the city)
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Other
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Expected enhanced carbon sequestration
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
- Achieved increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Increased property prices
- Expected increased property prices
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Achieved improved access to urban green space
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Expected increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Health and wellbeing
- Improved physical health
- Expected improved physical health
- Improved mental health
- Expected improved mental health
- Education
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
- Expected increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
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.
Ayuntamiento de Sevilla (2019). Arbolado Sevilla: Resumen ejecutivo del Plan Director del Arbolado Urbano de Sevilla. [Source link];
2.
City of Sevilla (n.d.). 2020-2021 plantation campaign. Accessed on September 6, 2024, [Source link];
3.
City of Sevilla (n.d.). 2021-2022 plantation campaign. Accessed on September 6, 2024,;
4.
City of Sevilla (n.d.). 2022-2023 plantation campaign. Accessed on September 6, 2024, [Source link];
5.
City of Sevilla (n.d.). Campaña de plantaciones 2023-2024. [Source link];
6.
Diario de Sevilla (2023). Seville City Council's tree planting campaign kicks off. Accessed on September 6, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Europa Press Andalusia (2022). Parks and Gardens begins the new planting campaign in the Prado with 31 more specimens in front of the US (Seville). Accessed on September 6, 2024, [Source link];
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.