Playbook for Urban Biodiversity

L6. Upskill key staff in designing, building and maintaining biodiverse landscapes - and pay them for their skills

Enhancing urban greening practices: Integrating local flora and fauna expertise

Key disciplines, including landscape architecture and maintenance, that are associated with urban greening have not always included training in working with local flora or fauna. This can result in a predominance of practices (for example, mowing) that are not supportive of local ecosystem function, or the misuse of native species in landscapes and public open space that have established mainstream approaches that utilise exotic species. Partnering with applied ecologists, horticulturalists and botanists, provides the opportunity for organisations and councils to upskill their staff with knowledge in the design, construction and maintenance of landscapes and enable the knowledge and methodology to apply more effective practices for more successful outcomes. It is also important to apply these skills and norms into the organisation and recognise the knowledge required from technical experts such as ecologists, horticulturalists and botanists, and advocate to ensure that these professions are paid accordingly, which can be based on business cases that articulate how skilled maintenance and plant identification is essential to ensuring biodiversity outcomes.