Urban Conservation

Cities across the globe are facing imminent biodiversity, climate, and environmental justice crises. In the heart of the United States’ largest metropolis, NYBG has a unique opportunity to act as a catalyst for innovation and solutions.

NYBG’s research in urban conservation emphasizes the importance of nature to cities and the importance of cities to nature. We believe that cities are an important part of the solution to our environmental crises, with enormous capacity to simultaneously improve human lives and minimize human impact on the environment. We leverage scientific and public platforms to propose solutions to pressing environmental challenges, creating our own digital tools for public use along the way. By partnering with local communities, government agencies, and other organizations, we develop and convey the understanding necessary to adapt cities to a changing climate. Through education and exhibitions, we express the complex and affirming ways that fostering nature improves cities and the planet, while collaborating to build and sustain communities that create and affirm ecologies in cities and elsewhere.