Bogotá D.C., Colombia

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Initiative: Reverdecer Bogotá

City:	Bogotá D.C.
Country:	Colombia
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In the government of Mayor Claudia López, the commitment to the environment gained strength in the context of two strategic plans:

The District Development Plan “A New Social and Environmental Contract for Bogotá in the 21st Century” and the Territorial Ordering Plan, which revolve around the greening of Bogotá and the management and comprehensive care of vegetation covers, that is, of the trees,  and vegetable gardens

“The greening of Bogotá” is a public policy included in the District Development Plan 2020-2024: “A New Social and Environmental Contract for the Bogotá of the 21st Century”. Its purpose is to improve the quality of the natural, built and regional environment from the perspective of generating well-being conditions for the population and other living beings present in the territory, promoting the transformation of habits and spaces, and the construction of awareness about our consumption. and appreciation of all forms of life.

Within this public policy, urban gardens are one of the key pieces of public space, and a determining element to reduce climate vulnerability factors.

And in this scenario, agro-ecological urban and peri-urban agriculture takes on special importance as it involves more than 120 plant species in orchards, including fruit trees, shrubs, vines, even small plants with multiple uses such as food, aromatic, seasoning and medicinal for self-consumption, exchange and marketing of fresh and processed products.

These very diverse agricultural practices also contribute to the generation and strengthening of the social fabric, encourage a healthy diet, promote physical activity, contribute to mental health, contribute to the conservation of ancestral and traditional communities knowledge and practices, promote the reduction of organic and inorganic waste, among many other benefits.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture development is led in Bogotá by the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden of Bogotá since 2004, with the purpose of contributing to the construction of a sustainable and resilient city, which provokes interactions with nature as a strategy for the appropriation of the territory.

In 2020, this Urban Agriculture Program gains strength and prominence, not only due to the interest of the community, but also due to the collateral effects derived from the pandemic, which made evident the need to promote agricultural processes in urban areas such as terraces, balconies, home patios, gardens and green areas of the city, which today materializes in more than 5,000 fortified vegetable gardens in a period of one year and approximately eight months

On the other hand, the efforts in previous years only addressed activities reflected in the goals of technical assistance and training in urban agriculture, ignoring the integrality and interdisciplinarity of agroecological practices in urban and peri-urban areas, that today are configured in the goals of Project 7681 of the Botanical Garden with a total budget for four years 2020 (second semester) – 2024 (first semester) of $15,749,000 COP. (approx. 4 million USD)