ABSTRACT
The Convention on Biological Diversity was one of several initiatives stemming from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which together formed the basis of an international agreement on sustainable development. Signatories recognised that urgent action was necessary to halt the global loss of species and habitats and that each country had a primary responsibility to conserve and enhance biodiversity within its own jurisdiction. They agreed to develop national strategies, plans and programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. This chapter describes how such programmes have been developed to conserve biodiversity in urban areas, using examples from London and Edinburgh in Britain and from Cape Town in South Africa.
