Urban Wilderness Construction: An Example of Shanghai Urban Biodiversity Education Base

Abstract

One of the core values of urban wilderness construction is to restore the structures and functions of biological communities in fragmented urban habitats, and enable the stability and ecological succession of native communities with low human intervention. The paper discusses the design principles and technical methodologies in active urban rewilding by the example of Shanghai Urban Biodiversity Education Base project. Aiming to restore urban biodiversity and enrich the technical and theoretical research of urban wilderness construction and Nature-based Solutions, this project conducted habitat division, native species introduction, natural community construction, ecological benefit assessment, etc. In a year and a half, 260 native plant species, 255 insect species, 7 amphibian and reptile species, 71 bird species, and 6 mammal species were recorded within the 1.7 hm2 project site, showing higher biodiversity and density of animal populations than unrestored consructed forests surrounding. Along with the spontaneous progressive succession of the plant communities, the project has achieved good results. The technical approaches proposed in the project can be broadly applied in design and construction of country parks, wildlife habitats, ecological corridors / networks, and environmental education bases.