City Biodiversity Index and the Cities-Biodiversity Relationship: a Case Study for Sorocaba, SP, Brazil

Abstract

Abstract In order to adopt a strategic model which aims to mitigate the environmental pressures exerted by the process of unbridled urbanization, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international agreement that permeates its conservation, the sustainable use of its resources and the equitable sharing of its resources, approved in 2010 the creation of the City Biodiversity Index (CBI), a political-legal instrument that aims to assess its management and progress. Later in 2016, the “Sorocaba: the city of biodiversity” program was launched by Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (SEMA), consisting of six specific objectives and among them, the establishment of criteria for the evaluation of conservation measures through indicators adapted from CBI, in order to propagate the urban ecology and ecosystems importance. Given the above, this study aimed to prove the compatibility between urban centers and biodiversity and to evaluate the environmental management of the city of Sorocaba, located in the interior of the State of São Paulo, through the application of 23 CBI indicators. The sum of the indicators resulted in a value of 57 points out of a total of 92 (61.9%), showing that, although Sorocaba has a relevant biodiversity, the low score of many indicators implies a need for greater mobilization of government spheres and the successive application of the CBI, in order to expand the conservation and environmental management of the city agenda over the years.