A multifunctional green infrastructure design to protect and improve native biodiversity in Rio de Janeiro

The city of Rio de Janeiro now covers what was formerly coastal Atlantic rainforest. Native biodiversity has been lost from most of the metropolitan area due to changes in land use, introduction of exotic species, and influence of foreign designs in public and private parks and gardens. This paper presents a multifunctional green infrastructure planning proposal to protect and regenerate native biodiversity in the last remaining natural ecosystem fragments in a watershed within the city’s limits. The proposal is based on social–ecological assessments and analyses. The watershed contains an extensive mangrove remnant surrounded by a protected massif partially covered by coastal Atlantic rainforest and is one of the very last productive landscapes where residents experience a strong sense of place. The strategy is to reconcile urban development with environmental achievements to conserve existing ecosystem patches, which will be connected by way of riparian corridors and other open spaces, such as streets, private yards and public areas, by using native species and ecological design. The green infrastructure framework is planned at the watershed scale. On a neighborhood and local scale, the plan is to promote public participation, develop new ecological aesthetics, encourage the planting of native species, and establish an innovative circulation system within a low-impact design framework to achieve various abiotic, biotic, and cultural goals. In addition to the economic benefits, accessible food production, rural tourism and ecotourism have the potential to unite people and nature within the city.