EP.04 – Urban Biogeography Restoring Ecology in the City-The Case of Los Angeles

In this episode of the Urban Futures Podcast, we speak with Travis Longcore, Associate Adjunct Professor at UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and director of The Urban Wildlands Group.  During our session, Travis speaks about the essential role nature plays in cities and the critical implications on biodiversity.  From an ecological perspective, he highlights the interdependences between urban and species conservation stressing the need for urban conservation to protect and preserve habitat and wildlife.  In his work, Travis calls attention to the biogeographical disproportions in the urban landscape contributing to widening the nature-city gap.  Travis shares with us, his experiences and lessons learned with the Green Vision Plan for the City of Los Angeles, Unpaving paradise: the Green Visions Plan(2012) and explains the key challenges hindering progress in ecology still today; i.e., park equity in communities with inadequate access to green space; and the lack of government and community recognition of the value in nature for urban restoration.  In making LA a biodiversity-conscious community, it becomes evident that the connections between socioecological processes and habitat could open up opportunities for greening urban areas.