In order to respond to the challenges and growing demand of counterparts, partners and populations to better integrate nature in cities, AFD Group has developed this technical guide "Biodiversity in Cities". In urban areas, biodiversity makes it possible to act simultaneously on health and well-being of inhabitants, on employment, on resilience to natural risks and on climate. It thus complements actions in the water management, agriculture and fisheries sectors.

In a context marked by the international agenda of the IUCN Congress and the COP15 dedicated to biodiversity, as well as the COP26 on climate, AFD's strong commitment to devote 1 billion euros of financing to biodiversity by 2025 implies increased action in the urban field. This guide aims to provide urban actors in all countries of intervention with a documented reference framework to "consciously" value biodiversity in urban projects and public policies financed by AFD, by providing objective and quantified data. Rather than offering a simple catalogue of "nature-based solutions" (NBS) to be developed in a generic manner, this tool promotes the contextualization of projects based on the climatic, topographical, socio-cultural and economic characteristics of each territory, but also on the level of political support. It is therefore a transformational approach of "nature-based design" that we want to propose to our partners through this guide, in order to meet the challenge of more frugal, fairer and more attractive cities.