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Good practice Imported

Bicentennial Park Urban Ecological Habitats — A Measured Five-Fold Biodiversity Gain in Quito

Ecuador · Quito · See the Ecuador profile · See the Quito profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 58% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Quito's Botanical Garden turned 1,750 m² of mown grass in Bicentennial Park into seven native-plant microhabitats with 5,900+ plants of 40 species; its own monitoring recorded a five-fold rise in biodiversity within about a year.

5x
Biodiversity increase in treated plots (~1 year)
1,750 m2
Converted area
5,900+ plants, 40 species
Plants installed
Bicentennial Park Urban Ecological Habitats — A Measured Five-Fold Biodiversity Gain in Quito

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Quito Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico de Quito)
Period
2025-2026
Keywords
urban biodiversity, ecological restoration, botanical gardens, municipal parks

Context

Bicentennial Park, built on the site of Quito's former international airport, includes large areas of low-biodiversity mown grass typical of post-industrial urban parks.

Activities

Funded through the Quito Environmental Fund's XVI competitive-grants call and municipal support, the Quito Botanical Garden converted 1,750 m2 of grass into seven native-plant microhabitat gardens, completed by May 2026, installing more than 5,900 plants across 40 native species.

Results

Technical monitoring recorded a five-fold increase in biodiversity in the treated plots compared with the prior grass baseline, with hummingbirds, native bees, ladybugs, pollinating flies and soil fungi now documented on-site.

Conclusions

Officials also cite carbon-capture and urban heat-mitigation contributions, but these have not been independently quantified — published figures come from the implementing agency's own monitoring rather than an externally audited dataset.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Funded through a competitive municipal environmental-fund grant plus municipal support; amount not disclosed.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Completed by May 2026.
Staffing & skills
Quito Botanical Garden technical team

Conditions for success

  • Competitive municipal grant funding (Quito Environmental Fund XVI call)
  • Native-species selection for ecological and landscape function

Common failure modes

  • Carbon-capture and heat-mitigation claims are not independently quantified

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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