Initiative City Forest

Sofia, Bulgaria

City population: 1201209

Duration: 2018 – ongoing

Implementation status: Ongoing

Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level

Project area: 910543 m²

Type of area: Previous derelict area, Other

Last updated: April 2022

Sofia is Europe's most polluted capital and the World Health Organization alarmed that Bulgaria ranks second in the world in terms of deaths due to air pollution per capita. In response to that, the coalition Sofia - Green Capital planned to buy neglected urban land and plant an Urban Forest in order to restore the green passes that lead the fresh air from the mountain to the city. The Urban Forest is expected to improve the air quality, sequestrate carbon emissions, and also provide a place for walks and play. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2). The planting process started in 2018 and around nearly 60,000 saplings were planted over 225 acres by over 6,500 volunteers and over 50 companies joined in. (Ref 7, 8)

https://www.sofia.bg/web/sofia-municipality/news/-/asset_publisher/FkzIiA7cePyl/content/6200-new-trees-are-planted-in-the-new-forest-of-sofia/pop_up?_101_INSTANCE_FkzIiA7cePyl_viewMode=print&_101_INSTANCE_FkzIiA7cePyl_languageId=en_US

Overview

Nature-based solution

Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Green corridors and green belts

Key challenges

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Environmental quality
Soil quality improvement
Air quality improvement
Noise reduction
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity restoration
Green space creation and/or management
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Effective management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Environmental education
Environmental and climate justice

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

- Improve the air quality in Sofia by bringing fresh air from the mountain to the city - Absorb carbon dioxide in order to mitigate climate change - Reduce noise pollution - Ameliorate the soils - Promote biodiversity - Help regulate the temperatures - Use the project as a sample for further afforestation of the green passes of the city - Encourage politicians to take measures to make Sofia a greener place - Raise awareness in the public regarding ecological problems in Sofia (Ref. 1; Ref. 2) Opportunities for volunteers to help plant trees and be involved in the process through donations and labour. (Ref 8)

Implementation activities

- Planting trees on a neglected urban land in order to restore the natural connection between the mountain and the city - Collecting donations for buying the land, prepare the soil, buy and plant the trees, and care after the trees in the first year following their planting - Offering donors to have their own tree and use it for whatever they like - e.g. put a label on it, a swing, etc. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2) Regarding the status of the project: The project started on March 24th 2018., with planted saplings taking place in three phases (2018). The most recent reference (2019) mentions "Our goal is to plant over 125,000 aromatic trees in this area" (Ref 8), so the project seems to be ongoing.

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
Create or improve outdoor spaces to help people escape from urban heat

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
Restore ecological connectivity

Main beneficiaries

Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

Citizens or community group

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

Crowd-sourcing/Crowd-funding/Participatory budget
Dissemination of information and education

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The initiative was started and is co-ordinated by Grupa Grad, which is a group of architects that work to preserve and improve the Bulgarian architecture and urban planning and development. The initiative is also endorsed by 28 NGOs, community groups, and industry associations, who have provided moral support and spread information about the initiative, thereby helping to raise funds (Ref. 2; Ref. 5). Those 28 partners, together with Grupa Grad, form the coalition Sofia - Green Capital which gave rise to the Urban Forest initiative. There are plans to include universities and institutes in researching the effect of the forest on the city's environment (Ref. 5).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown

... a national policy or strategy? Unknown

... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Master Plan of Sofia Municipality (Ref. 2; Ref 6).)

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

Crowdfunding
Unknown

Type of funding

Donations

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution

Provision of labour

Who provided the non-financial contribution?

Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Private sector (businesses, financial institution)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

Climate change
Enhanced carbon sequestration
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Reduced noise exposure
Improved soil quality
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Reduced biodiversity loss

Economic impacts

Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

Social justice and cohesion
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Other

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

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

Ref. 1. GlobalGiving (2017). Planting a Forest to fight pollution in Sofia. [online] available at: Source link (Accessed 2 September 2020)
Ref. 2. София - Зелена Столица (2017). Home page. (Website not available in 2020).
Ref. 3. Група Град (2017). КОИ СМЕ НИЕ?. (Website not available in 2020).
Ref. 4. BNR (2017). Колко зелена столица може да е София!. [online] available at: Source link (Accessed 2 September 2020)
Ref. 5. Maltzeva, M. (2017). Interview. [docx] available below.
Ref. 6. Sofproect (2009). ОБЩ УСТРОЙСТВЕН ПЛАН
НА СТОЛИЧНА ОБЩИНА. [pdf] available at: Source link (Accessed 2 September 2020).
Ref. 7. The Mayor (2018). The initiative “New Forest” in Sofia starts this Saturday. Source: Source link (Accessed on 2 September 2020)
Ref. 8. Novatagora (2019) МИСЛИ ЧИСТО. Source: Source link (Accessed on 2 September 2020)